Beijing, China:
A strong earthquake rattled southwest China on Sunday, collapsing houses and knocking out communication and power lines. There were no immediate official reports of casualties, but photos of apparently injured people were posted on social media.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.1 quake hit Yunnan province at 4:30 p.m. at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). The China Earthquake Networks Center said the magnitude was 6.5.
China's official Xinhua News Agency said the quake toppled and cracked buildings, and that people rushed out onto the street as it hit. It also reported that the Yunnan provincial earthquake administration sent a 30-member team to the quake's epicenter.
Chen Guoyong, the head of Longtoushan township, told Xinhua that many houses there had collapsed, and that rescue workers were working to determine casualties.
Photos on the Chinese social media site Weibo showed several people apparently injured amid toppled bricks.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the quake was the strongest to hit Yunnan in 14 years. It reported that the quake loosened rocks that blocked a road near the city of Zhaotong and broadcast an image of a car apparently damaged by debris from the temblor.
In 1970, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake in Yunnan killed at least 15,000 people, and a magnitude-7.1 quake in the province killed more than 1,400 in 1974. In September 2012, 81 people died and 821 were injured in a series of quakes in the Yunnan region.