BEIJING -- Two earthquakes hit south-west China
                 yesterday morning, killing at least three people and
                 causing thousands of buildings to collapse, local officials
                 said.

                 The first quake, of magnitude 5.9, hit Yao'an county in
                 Yunnan province at 6.06 am.

                 A stronger one measuring 6.5 rocked the same area
                 about 90 minutes later.

                 Mr Lu Zhongnan from the county civil affairs office said:
                 "At the present time we estimate between 7,000 and
                 8,000 homes have fallen down or been damaged".
                 About 300 people were hurt.

                 The epicentres of the two quakes were 5 km west of
                 Yao'an town in an area known as Huangnitan, which has
                 a population of 20,000 to 30,000, according to official
                 Su Yuwen from the county seismological bureau.

                 Dozens of aftershocks rocked the region throughout
                 yesterday, measuring between 1.0 and 3.0 on the
                 Richter scale, the official said.

                 The quakes were strongly felt in the entire mountainous
                 region, including provincial capital city Kunming.

                 The official Xinhua news agency said the quakes have
                 caused an electrical blackout in the region, but railway
                 traffic through Yao'an had not been affected. -- AFP,
                 Xinhua

                       Adapted from The Straits Times, 16 Jan  2000.