Four people were killed and 23 others injured when an earthquake shook south-western China's Yunnan province, the local authorities said yesterday. The 5.0-magnitude quake in Qiaojia county struck late on Monday evening, the Yunnan government said on its social media account. The quake hit near Zhaotong city, according to the government seismology authority. The city has a population of more than six million. State news agency Xinhua reported yesterday that rescue teams including firefighters had been sent to 16 townships. China is regularly hit by earthquakes, especially in its mountainous western and south-western regions. A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan province last year killed 13 and injured nearly 200 people, damaging a large number of structures. A powerful 7.9-magnitude quake in Sichuan in 2008 left 87,000 people dead or missing.