A series of earthquakes has hit south-west China, leaving at least 50 people dead and 150 injured, state-run media say, - BBC reported.

The quakes struck the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, with the largest felt at 11:19 Beijing time (03:19 GMT), Xinhua news agency said.

The US Geological Survey registered the two strongest of the series of quakes at 5.6 magnitude.

The quakes affected mostly mountainous areas that saw landslides, reports say.

Zhang Junwei, a spokesman from the Yunnan seismological bureau, told the Associated Press (AP) agency that most of the deaths were from Yunnan's Yiliang county.

"The casualty number is still being compiled. I don't know what was like for the other towns, but my town got hit badly," another government official in Yiliang told AP.

No deaths have been reported in Guizhou so far.