BEIJING, July 9 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 336 people were injured and some 2,700 buildings damaged in a powerful earthquake that struck southwest China's Yunan Province on Thursday, the Xinhua news agency said.

Fifty six people are in a critical condition.

The quake, measuring 6 on the Richter scale, had its epicenter in Guantun, some 200 kilometers from the city of Kunming, the agency said, citing a national seismological service.

The earthquake was followed by eight aftershocks with a magnitude measuring between 3 and 4.1 on the Richter scale.

Over 2,000 tents and 3,000 blankets have been sent to the region to house those displaced by the earthquake.

In May 2008, more than 70,000 people died when a magnitude 8 tremor struck the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.