Beijing - About 1,200 people were evacuated Wednesday after an earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale damaged homes in China's south-western province of Yunnan, the government and state media said.

The State Seismological Bureau said it recorded the quake at 5:35 am (2135 GMT Tuesday) with an epicentre in Yunnan's Yingjiang county and a depth of about 10 kilometres.

Many homes collapsed in towns and villages close to the epicentre and about 1,200 people were evacuated, the official Xinhua news agency quoted local authorities as saying.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, the agency said. (dpa)