A strong, shallow quake has shaken southwestern China near the border with Myanmar, killing at least three people and injuring more than two dozen as authorities rushed relief goods including tents to the area.

A second, 7.3-magnitude quake hit early on Saturday the southern part of Qinghai province in central China, about 1000 kilometres north of the first quake.

While there were no reports of casualties, roads were damaged in Maduo county.

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Aftershocks continued into Saturday morning, with multiple smaller temblors recorded by China’s earthquake administration.

US Geological Survey geophysicist Jonathan Tytell said the two quakes were not related.

The Yunnan province seismological bureau gave the magnitude of the Friday night quake as 6.4 and said it struck 8km below the surface northwest of the city of Dali.

Shallow quakes often cause more damage, especially in populated areas.

The earthquake caused strong shaking around Dali, but Chinese news reports showed relatively little damage.

Three people died and 27 were injured, local authorities told state broadcaster CCTV.

Relief efforts were under way, with the provincial authorities sending emergency rations and tents to the affected areas.

Last year, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake in Yunnan killed four people and injured 23.

China’s worst earthquake in recent years struck the mountainous western portion of Sichuan province to the north of Yunnan in 2008, killing nearly 90,000 people.

-AAP