Devastating Earthquake in China's Ludian County

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.

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