A magnitude 5 earthquake shakes a province in China, leaving almost 6,000 affected.

Beijing.- A magnitude 5 earthquake struck this morning the Chinese province of Yunnan (south), leaving 5,988 people affected and damage to 179 homes, although no fatalities have been reported at this time.

The movement was recorded at 4:31 local time (20:31 GMT on Wednesday), with an epicenter 10 kilometers deep and 318 kilometers from the city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

Local authorities in Eryuan County, the most affected, activated an emergency response protocol to assist those affected, with the mobilization of 169 specialized personnel and 34 vehicles, reported the state-run media CCTV.

Although no fatalities or injuries had been reported until 11:00 local time (3:00 GMT), material damage of various kinds was recorded in the areas closest to the epicenter, according to the local newspaper The Paper.

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According to available data, 5,988 people were affected by the earthquake and 3,936 were evacuated as a precaution. In total, partial damage has been recorded in 179 homes, mainly in the form of cracks in walls, detachment of tiles, and partial collapse of fences. Local authorities have set up three temporary accommodation centers and urgently distributed 150 tents, 600 folding beds, 600 blankets, and 600 mattresses to assist the evacuated people, according to The Paper.

In Yunnan, with an area comparable to that of Paraguay and 47 million inhabitants, some 2,900 people were affected and more than 800 homes collapsed due to the earthquake that struck neighboring Myanmar last March, a quake that left more than 3,600 dead in that country.