A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck southwestern China on Sunday, killing nearly 600 people in a remote area of Yunnan province, causing thousands of buildings, including a school, to collapse. The earthquake also triggered multiple landslides that have blocked rivers and created rapidly growing bodies of water that could unleash more destruction on survivors of the disaster. More than 10,000 soldiers and hundreds of volunteers have rushed to Ludian County to clear roads and dig out possible survivors from the debris, but landslides and bouts of heavy rain have complicated rescue efforts. An estimated 80,000 houses were destroyed and 124,000 seriously damaged.
Devastating Earthquake in China's Ludian County
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A military helicopter flies over the earthquake-hit Longtoushan town, as it delivers supplies on August 6, 2014. Some 10,000 troops and hundreds of volunteers have rushed to Ludian to clear roads and dig out possible survivors from the debris, but landslides and bouts of heavy rains have complicated rescue efforts. #
AP Photo/Andy Wong -
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Floodwater and mud fall above a hydropower station in the earthquake zone in Yunan province on August 5, 2014. The earthquake triggered landslides that have blocked rivers and created rapidly growing bodies of water that could unleash more destruction on survivors of the disaster. #
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A severely injured person is carried through a window onto a train heading to Kunming to receive better medical treatment at a railway station in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, on August 5, 2014. #
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A villager waits to attend a prayer service at a damaged mosque at the earthquake zone in Longtoushan on August 6, 2014. The Chinese phrase reads from right to left as "Love the country, love the religion". #
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A woman waits for rescuers to search for her relatives who are buried under collapsed buildings after an earthquake hit Longtoushan township, Yunnan province, China, on August 4, 2014. #
Reuters/Wong Campion
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