Quake hits China; at least 13 dead

An earthquake struck China's extreme southwest near the border with Burma, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 125, an official said.

Witnesses reported that part of a supermarket had collapsed in the magnitude 5.8 earthquake, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

At least 13 people were killed and 126 other people were hurt, said an official with the Yunnan Disaster Relief Centre who would only give his surname, Chen. Another official on duty at the centre, Gao Shaotang, said many houses had been toppled.

The website of the government earthquake monitoring station said the quake struck in Yunnan just before 1pm (1600 AEDT) at a depth of 10km.

The United States Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 5.4. Quakes of magnitude 5 or more are capable of causing damage.

The epicentre is in a mountainous area 2,400km southwest of Beijing, close to the border with Burma.