Rescuers focus on remote areas as China quake toll at 80
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A damaged vehicle is parked outside an apartment block in Yiliang on Sept 7, 2012 after two quakes hit the border of south-western Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart around the middle of the day followed by a string of aftershocks. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Residents rest by the makeshift tents (back) at an emergency relief center set up in the town square in Yiliang on Sept 8, 2012, after two quakes hit on the border of south-western Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart on Sept 7. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Injured residents rest in a makeshift medical tent after being attended to at an emergency relief center set up in the town square in Yiliang on Sept 8, 2012, after two quakes hit on the border of south-western Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart on Sept 7. -- PHOTO: AFP
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In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, center, talks to earthquake victims in Yiliang County of Zhaotong, south-west China's Yunnan Province, early on Saturday, Sept 8, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Residents gather to cook a meal in Yiliang, south-west China's Yunnan province on Sept 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of south-west China. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Rescuers workers move in to assess the damages in Yiliang on Sept 7, 2012 after two quakes hit the border of southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart around the middle of the day followed by a string of aftershocks. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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People run as smoke rises after an earthquake hit Yiliang county in Zhaotong city, in Yunnan province in this still image from video on Sept 7, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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A damaged building in Yiliang, south-west China's Yunnan province on Sept 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of south-west China. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A boulder lies on a road in Yiliang, south-west China's Yunnan province on Septr 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of south-west China. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A motorbike lies buried under fallen rocks in Yiliang, south-west China's Yunnan province on Sept 7, 2012, after two shallow quakes struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of south-west China. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Passengers stand on a highway as they are covered with dust after an earthquake hit Yiliang county in Zhaotong city, in Yunnan province on Sept 7, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Two buses make their way across a road full of fallen rocks after a series of earthquakes, one of them measuring magnitude 5.7, hit the area near Zhaotong municipality at the border of south-west China's Yunnan and Guizhou province on Sept 7, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
A damaged vehicle is parked outside an apartment block in Yiliang on Sept 7, 2012 after two quakes hit the border of south-western Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart around the middle of the day followed by a string of aftershocks. -- PHOTO: AFP
Residents rest by the makeshift tents (back) at an emergency relief center set up in the town square in Yiliang on Sept 8, 2012, after two quakes hit on the border of south-western Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart on Sept 7. -- PHOTO: AFP
Injured residents rest in a makeshift medical tent after being attended to at an emergency relief center set up in the town square in Yiliang on Sept 8, 2012, after two quakes hit on the border of south-western Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart on Sept 7. -- PHOTO: AFP
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, center, talks to earthquake victims in Yiliang County of Zhaotong, south-west China's Yunnan Province, early on Saturday, Sept 8, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Residents gather to cook a meal in Yiliang, south-west China's Yunnan province on Sept 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of south-west China. -- PHOTO: AFP
Rescuers workers move in to assess the damages in Yiliang on Sept 7, 2012 after two quakes hit the border of southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart around the middle of the day followed by a string of aftershocks. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
People run as smoke rises after an earthquake hit Yiliang county in Zhaotong city, in Yunnan province in this still image from video on Sept 7, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A damaged building in Yiliang, south-west China's Yunnan province on Sept 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of south-west China. -- PHOTO: AFP
A boulder lies on a road in Yiliang, south-west China's Yunnan province on Septr 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of south-west China. -- PHOTO: AFP
A motorbike lies buried under fallen rocks in Yiliang, south-west China's Yunnan province on Sept 7, 2012, after two shallow quakes struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of south-west China. -- PHOTO: AFP
Passengers stand on a highway as they are covered with dust after an earthquake hit Yiliang county in Zhaotong city, in Yunnan province on Sept 7, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Two buses make their way across a road full of fallen rocks after a series of earthquakes, one of them measuring magnitude 5.7, hit the area near Zhaotong municipality at the border of south-west China's Yunnan and Guizhou province on Sept 7, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - Rescuers in south-western China tried on Saturday to reach remote communities rocked by back-to-back earthquakes that killed at least 80 people and damaged tens of thousands of buildings, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Friday's shallow 5.6 magnitude quakes struck an impoverished, mountainous part of the country with poor infrastructure and telecommunications and the death toll could rise as news trickles out of cut-off areas, it said.
Most of the victims were from Yiliang county in Yunnan province, near the epicentre.
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed boulder-covered roadways, abandoned cars and black smoke billowing from buildings.
