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China Quake Toll Jumps to 589


Rescue workers are transported into an earthquake zone on a front loader in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, August 5, 2014.
Rescue workers are transported into an earthquake zone on a front loader in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, August 5, 2014.

China says the death toll from Sunday's powerful earthquake in the southwestern province of Yunnan has risen sharply to 589.

Rescuers have been busy pulling corpses from thousands of homes that collapsed following the 6.1-magnitude earthquake.

Officials say 80,000 homes collapsed, leading to the displacement of at least 230,000 people. At least 2,400 people were injured.

Rainstorms are still complicating search efforts and are preventing authorities from delivering badly needed aid to the mountainous, remote area.

The quake was centered in the rural county of Ludian, where many homes are poorly constructed using brick and mud.

China says it is the worst earthquake to hit the area in 14 years.

Southwestern China is frequently struck by earthquakes. In 2012 an earthquake in the Yunnan region killed at least 80 people.

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