KUNMING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale that hit Myanmar on Saturday has seriously affected China's border province of Yunnan, damaging and destroying houses in the Xishuangbanna area, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

    The earthquake affected 66,000 people in Xishuangbanna and 16,000 local villagers have been moved to safer places. With landslides a real possibility, some 6,100 other villagers should be moved to safer places.

    So far, there are no reports of casualties in Xishuangbanna.

    The earthquake occurred on Saturday at 16:17 p.m., with the epicenter at N.21.6 and E.99.9, followed by a series of aftershocks, according to China's seismological network.

    The provincial government has sent an expert team to the affected area, while the provincial department of civil affairs has distributed 500 tents to villagers. The local government of Menghai County has allocated 500,000 yuan (about 65,600 US dollars) as emergency relief funds.