Two dead from China quake, Xinhua reports

Story Highlights

• More than 200 injured from earthquake, Xinhua reports
• China says quake was magnitude 6.4; U.S. places magnitude at 6.2
• Power, communication affected in Yunnan Province
• Some homes, roads destroyed from quake

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(CNN) -- Two people were killed and more than 200 others injured early Sunday when a strong quake rattled southwestern China's Yunnan Province, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The China Earthquake Administration put the quake at magnitude 6.4, according to Xinhua. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was magnitude 6.2.

The quake struck the province at 5:34 a.m. Sunday (9:34 p.m. Saturday GMT), the USGS said.

Xinhua reported the temblor shook the old town of Hani and Yi Autonomous County of Ning'er in Pu'er City.

Fifteen people were seriously injured in the county, Xinhua said, citing rescue sources.

Some houses in the region collapsed, and some roads were destroyed. The quake also affected communication networks and water and power services to the county, Xinhua said.

Yunnan Province's civil affairs department was sending thousands of quilts, tents and clothes to the stricken area, the news agency reported. The Pu'er city government was allocating 1 million yuan (US$131,000) for disaster relief.

Officials from the China Earthquake Administration were traveling to the area to join local rescue efforts, Xinhua said.

Ning'er County covers 3,670 square kilometers (1,417 square miles) and has a population of 190,000 people, according to the news agency.

The quake was felt in an area 186 miles away from its epicenter, Xinhua said.

The epicenter of the quake was 23.0 degrees north and 101.1 degrees east, the Reuters news service reported.

Pu'er, home of the tea of the same name, lies near to the border with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Pu'er tea dates back to the early Tang Dynasty (618-763). Over the centuries it was used as a form of currency in China and was an important international trading item.

Reuters contributed to this report.