Fifteen people were killed and 46 people seriously wounded in the earthquake that hit Dayao County in southwest China Yunnan Province, local disaster relief headquarters said late Tuesday night.

The quake also destroyed 5,048 rooms and 69 schools while damaging 18 reservoirs, according to the headquarters.

The earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck Dayao on Monday, and the epicenter was located at Tanhua Town, at 26 degrees north latitude and 101.2 degrees east longitude.

In Tanhua, 10 people were killed and 87 wounded with 21 seriously. Meanwhile, 3,010 rooms were destroyed with 7,205 peopleaffected.

Power supply and partial telecommunications in Tanhua have beenresumed by 5 a.m. Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2003)