An earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale shook southwest China"s Yunnan Province early Monday, slightly injuring 28 people and collapsing more than 1,000 homes, Xinhua quoted local authorities as saying. The quake struck Binchuan and Xiangyun counties, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, at about 5 a.m.. One of the injured suffered clavicle fracture while the other 27 suffered bruises, but slightly, said Zhang Yaqin, an official with the provincial health department. The injured aged from seven to 80, Zhang said. More than 280,000 people were affected, 30,000 homes were damaged and more than 430 heads of livestock killed, said a statement from the Yunnan Provincial Civil Affairs Department. The direct economic loss was estimated to be 6.7 million yuan (about 985,000 U.S. dollars), said the statement. The epicenter was detected at 26 degrees north and 100.7 degrees east, with a depth of about 10 km, said the National Seismological Network of China. Yunnan Province recorded more than 4,000 earthquakes in the first nine months, among which 13 quakes measured from 4.0 to 4.9,90 from 5.0 to 5.9 and one 6.0 on the Richter scale, according to the provincial seismological bureau. --SPA
