A 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Yingjiang County in southwest China's Yunnan Province Thursday noon, killing at least 25 people and injuring 250 others, local authorities said.

Soldiers help to give an injured man an IV drip in Yingjiang county of Yunnan province on Thursday. At least 24 people were killed and 245 injured in a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that had hit the county at 12:58 pm. [Photo/Xinhua]

 The earthquake has toppled 1,264 houses or apartments and left 17,658 others seriously damaged, mainly in the county seat near the border with Myanmar, said Zhao Yunshan, director with the county government's press office.

More than 127,100 people have been evacuated to nearby shelters, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said late Thursday.

Over 80 percent of the homes in Lameng Village, the epicenter, collapsed during the quake. However, no serious casualties but only a few slight injuries were reported in the village, Zhao said.

Four students were among those killed and more than 30 of the injured were in serious condition, he said, without giving further details.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10 kilometers, was monitored at 24.7 degrees north latitude and 97.9 degrees east longitude, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center(CENC).

Witnesses said people were buried under debris and part of a supermarket, and a hotel caved in.