Update | 29 injured as 5.9-magnitude earthquake rocks southwest China

Twenty-nine people were injured, with five in serious condition, after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit southwest China close to the border with Myanmar this morning.

Tremors were strongly felt in Yingjiang county, where residents rushed to open areas when the quake hit at around 9.20am, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre. It was the secondquake in a week to hit the area.

The US Geological Survey said the shaking would have been "very strong" and that the epicentre was 27 kilometres north of Pingyuan in Yunnan province, and 65 kilometres southeast of Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state in northern Myanmar.

The USGS said the quake was 10 kilometres deep. Shallow earthquakes can often cause greater damage than more powerful deep ones.

Many people posting on Weibo said the  shaking lasted between six and eight seconds.

A picture posted online showed people in the centre of Mang, in Yingjiang  county, standing in the street, with the poster saying they had run out of an  eight-storey building because of the tremors.

USGS graded it as a seven on its "Shakemap" scale, saying that shaking would have been "very strong" and expecting "moderate" damage. State news agency Xinhua put the magnitude at 6.1, citing China's earthquake authorities.