BEIJING - AN EARTHQUAKE that hit China's southwest killed 38 people, Xinhua news agency said on Monday, two days after the most recent in a series of tremors to hit the region.

The quake hit the mountainous border between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, near an area still reeling from the May 12 quake which killed at least 70,000 people.

Rescuers appealed for temporary housing and tents on Monday.

'We need temporary houses ... we need more than 10,000 tents,' said Mr Zhang Hai, head of the foreign liaison office of the Communist Party propaganda department in Panzhihua city.

'This is a mountainous place and so we can't build temporary houses everywhere.'

The beginning of the school year, which was supposed to be Monday, was postponed for a week because authorities were inspecting damage in classrooms, he said.

'We still can't bring all kids back to their previous classrooms,' Mr Zhang said.

China is still basking in the glory of hosting an extravagant and widely viewed Olympic Games that International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge called 'truly exceptional'.

But the earthquake underscores the country's need to turn its attention back to pressing domestic issues such as high inflation, pollution, and now disaster relief.

The region has suffered hundreds of smaller but still serious quakes since then.

Saturday's quake injured 467 people and forced 152,000 to flee. Over 250,000 homes were damaged, Xinhua said.

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 5.7, while Xinhua said it measured 6.1.

A slightly smaller aftershock hit around 24 hours later, but there were no immediate reports of further damage.

The government was rushing disaster relief to the affected areas, including thousands of tents and blankets.

Sichuan province, known for its pandas and fiery cuisine, has struggled to rebuild after the May disaster, which left 10 million people homeless. -- REUTERS, AFP