An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale rocked Yunnan Province in southwest China late Monday night, according to the China Seismological Bureau.

The tremor occured in Dayao County, some 180 kilometers away from the provincial capital city of Kunming, at 23:16 Monday. It was felt in Kunming, according to local sources.

A number of buildings and residential houses in Dayao County collapsed, while no report of casualties had been received by 00:30 Tuesday, Zhi Jinli, secretary of the Dayao County Committee of the Communist Party of China, told Xinhua on phone.

Disaster relief work was immediately launched and the local authorities have dispatched rescue teams to all of Dayao's 14 townships, Zhi said.

The provincial government has also sent two teams consisting of officials and experts to the county to look into the situation and help organize rescue work.

The epicenter was located at Tanhua Town at 26.0 degrees north latitude and 101.2 degrees east longitude, according to seismologists.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2003)