One person was dead and several others were injured after an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, in southwest China's Yunnan Province, at 8:24 PM on Thursday.

The victim was a woman in her thirties. The casualties were still being counted, E Tun, the county head, said.

Tens of thousands of locals stayed overnight in a square and on campus playgrounds. Many houses were destroyed in Sudian Township.

Power and telecom networks were cut off in the main districts of the county after the tremor. Part of the stricken areas had electricity back as of 10:20 p.m. on Thursday.

The epicenter, about 10 km underground, was at 24.9 degrees north latitude and 97.8 degrees east longitude. It was about 45 km away from the county town, and 500 km away from the provincial capital Kunming, according to a National Earthquake Network press release.

The provincial civil affairs department allocated 100 tents, 1,000 quilts and 1,000 items of clothing to the stricken area.

About 100 police from Dehong prefecture were heading for Yingjiang to assist in the rescue effort.

An earlier tremor, measuring 5.0, struck the county at 5:35 AM on Wednesday, with the epicenter monitored at Sudian Township, about 46 km from Yingjiang county seat.

More than 110 aftershocks under a 3.6 magnitude were monitored as of 6 PM on Thursday.

The livelihoods of more than 14,000 people were affected and 3,400 others were evacuated after Wednesday's tremor. No one had been reported hurt from that tremor.

The tremor destroyed six houses and damaged 4,056 others in the county. Most of the damaged structures were in a dangerous state.

It also damaged 17 school buildings, 28 dormitories and some communication facilities.

In total, 2,500 people, including police and government officials, had participated in the rescue efforts. The local government had allocated 100,000 yuan (about US$14,609) for disaster relief.

The affected area has a population density of 45 persons per square km and is at an average altitude of 2,000 meters.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2008)