More than 6,100 people, including soldiers, police officers, medical staff, and civilians, have participated in the rescue operation, saving at least 40 trapped people and sending more than 200 injured people to hospital.
The county needs 5,000 more tents for the homeless, said Zhao Jin, Party chief of Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Dehong, which administers Yingjiang.
Zhao said he had asked the provincial government for help.
The provincial and local governments have earmarked 23 million yuan (3.49 million U.S. dollars) in emergency aid to the quake-hit regions.
"We are now short of disinfectant, crucial for the post-quake epidemic prevention work," said Zhang Tao, president of the People's Hospital of Yingjiang.
About 60 injured people have to stay in tents and 74 others were transferred to other hospitals for surgery as part of the hospital's building was damaged and power supply has not been fully resumed there, Zhang said.
The quake first hit the county at 12:58 p.m., followed by seven aftershocks measuring up to 4.7 on the Richter scale.
Experts have not ruled out the possibility that stronger quakes might hit the region and they could not say that the first magnitude-5.8 tremor was the main quake.
Prior to the quake, more than 1,200 minor tremors were recorded in the region over the last two months.
Related:
Chinese vice president requests all-out efforts on quake relief
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for all-out measures to save the casualties of the 5.8-magnitude earthquake in southwestern Yunnan Province.
Xi extended comfort to the people in the quake-hit area, and demanded adequate food, clean water and clothes for the affected people. Full story
China Earthquake Administration sends experts to quake-hit SW province
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China Earthquake Administration has sent experts to the quake-hit region in Yingjiang County in southwest China's Yunnan Province to offer expertise and direct relevant work, the administration said Thursday.
The administration said in a statement on its website that it initiated a grade III emergency response after the quake and dispatched a team of experts to the quake zone, headed by an official with the administration's emergency relief bureau. Full story
