An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 has recently struck the Yunnan province of China, the strongest quake to hit the province in fourteen years. The quake's epicenter has been pinpointed by the US Geological Survey to an area just 11 kilometers northwest of Wenping, with had a depth of approximately 10 kilometers. Tremors have reportedly reached as far as the neighboring provinces of Sichuan and Gizhou.

According to the latest reports, nearly 600 people have so far been killed, and over a thousand are injured. Local Chinese news agency, Xinhua, reports that Yunnan's Qiaojia County in the Zhaotong region appears to be the hardest hit, where most of the casualties from the earthquake have been reported so far. The government-owned news agency also detailed that some 12,000 residences have collapsed in the county of Ludian, a district with a population of nearly 439,000.

This earthquake catastrophe has left a number of roads destroyed, tens of thousands of structures crumbled, and several villages cut off from the rest of the region. Yunnan experienced widespread power outages soon after the quake hit, and although power has been restored in much of the region, many still remain without electricity.

The Chinese government immediately deployed rescue teams to aid the hardest-hit areas, sending off thousands of tents, coats, quilts and cots for the survivors. As the situation stands, search and rescue efforts are still underway in the affected areas despite impediments brought about by heavy rainfall in the disaster zone, as well as the grueling task of clearing debris.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the country's rescue workers, which includes some of the Chinese paramilitary, to prioritize the search for survivors, to lessen casualties, and to shelter displaced residents in the heavily damaged areas.

The White House, through US National Security Council Deputy Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan, extended its condolences to the Chinese people and has ordered its officials to coordinate with their Chinese counterpart to deploy aid in the disaster-hit areas. UN Secretary General Ban Kee Moon shared the same sentiment and has offered extensive help from the United Nations.