A strong earthquake jolted southwest China's Yunnan Province early Tuesday morning, leaving 12 people injured, one of them critically. 

The earthquake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, struck at 6:11 AM. The epicenter was at Hanzhuang Town, about ten kilometers from the densely populated city of Baoshan and 580 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Kunming.

The temblor shook the downtown and suburban areas, including Changning, Shidian, Tengchong and Longling counties.

Local officials said that more than 20,000 houses were damaged or destroyed by the quake and 20 schools forced to suspend classes, affecting about 1,000 students.

By 10:00 PM Tuesday, tents had been sent to some victims, traffic had resumed and the communication system was under repair.

Yunnan is among the provinces most severely affected by this year's floods, hail and mudslides, which have already left thousands homeless.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn October 20, 2004)