An earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale late Saturday left two people dead and one slightly injured in southwest China's Chongqing municipality, the municipal government said Monday.

A total of 425 people in Rongchang county were relocated after 173 houses were destroyed in the quake and 267 houses were badly damaged, a municipal government spokesman said.

According to the municipal seismological bureau of Chongqing, the "moderate" quake occurred at 9:26 p.m. Saturday at a depth of 11 kilometers, and the epicenter was at Yujiu Village, Ronglong town.

Rongchang county sits on a fault line running through Mount Huaying, which is part of a major tectonic belt along the boundary of Sichuan Province and Chongqing, where "numerous" earthquakes had been recorded, according to the municipal seismological bureau of Chongqing.

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2009)