BEIJING: A moderate earthquake rocked southwest China Thursday evening, killing one people, injuring at least 336 people and collapsing more than 18,000 homes, state media said. The magnitude-6.0 temblor, centered in Yunnan province's Yao'an county, damaged another 30,000 homes, the Xinhua News Agency said.

This map shows the epicenter of the magitude-6.0 earthquake in Yao'an county, Southwest China's Yunnan province, July 9, 2009. [CFP]

The quake was followed by eight aftershocks and the provincial civil affairs department was sending 4,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and other relief materials to Yao'an, Xinhua said.

More than 300 soldiers and hundreds of police were dispatched to the disaster zone, according to the CCTV news and Xinhua.

In 1988, a 7.1-magnitude quake in Yunnan near Myanmar killed more than 722 people.