The Chinese province of Yunnan was ravaged by a 6.5-magnitude earthquake on Sunday afternoon.

Chinese media reports the quake’s epicentre was located in Ludian county of Yunnan province at a depth of 12 kilometres.

Houses were reduced to debris and a dam formed by a landslide necessitated the evacuation of villagers living downstream due to fears the dam could burst.

The area’s high population density, at 265 people per square kilometre, contributed to the high death and injury toll.

The Chinese government has dispatched 2,000 policemen and firefighters to assist in the rescue operation.

Some 160 aftershocks have been recorded since the earthquake.

Yunnan Province is often rattled by quakes and the authorities there have invested large sums of money in disaster preparedness which will hopefully help residents recover and rebuild faster than was the case in previous disasters.

----------------------------------------­---------------------

Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.

For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS

Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt-WqkTyKK1_70U4bb4k4lQ?sub_confirmation=1

Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: https://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f

Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus