Photos: Deadly Earthquakes in Southwestern China

Posted Sep 07, 2012

A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday, September 7, 2012, in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported.

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People run as fallen rocks land near their vehicle after the area was hit by earthquake in Zhaotong town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported. (AP Photo)
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A man looks at the trucks damaged by fallen rocks after an earthquake in Zhaotong town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported. (AP Photo)
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Chinese paramilitary policemen carry an injured victim evacuated from an earthquake hit Zhaotong town, Yiliang County, in southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported. (AP Photo)
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A still image taken from video shows a tracking shot of a vehicle passing by an area affected by a landslide after an earthquake hit Yiliang county in Zhaotong city, in Yunnan province September 7, 2012. Two shallow 5.6 magnitude earthquakes hit mountainous southwestern China on Friday, killing at least 50 people and forcing tens of thousands of people from damaged buildings, state media said. The quakes struck near the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, the first one at 11:19 a.m. (0319 GMT) and the second one about 45 minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey said. About 160 people were injured and 20,000 homes damaged in the remote region about 350 km from the Yunnan provincial capital Kunming, the official Xinhua news agency said. REUTERS/CCTV via Reuters TV
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In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, damaged cars are seen in Luozehe town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China on Friday, killing dozens of people with the toll expected to rise. Damage was preventing rescuers from reaching some outlying areas, and communications were disrupted. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhou Hongpeng)
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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 September 7, 2012. Two shallow 5.6 magnitude earthquakes hit mountainous southwestern China on Friday, killing at least 50 people and forcing tens of thousands of people from damaged buildings, state media said. The quakes struck near the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, the first one at 11:19 a.m. (0319 GMT) and the second one about 45 minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey said. About 160 people were injured and 20,000 homes damaged in the remote region about 350 km from the Yunnan provincial capital Kunming, the official Xinhua news agency said. REUTERS/CCTV via Reuters TV
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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 September 7, 2012. Two shallow 5.6 magnitude earthquakes hit mountainous southwestern China on Friday, killing at least 50 people and forcing tens of thousands of people from damaged buildings, state media said. The quakes struck near the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, the first one at 11:19 a.m. (0319 GMT) and the second one about 45 minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey said. About 160 people were injured and 20,000 homes damaged in the remote region about 350 km from the Yunnan provincial capital Kunming, the official Xinhua news agency said. REUTERS/CCTV via Reuters TV
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People run as rocks fall near their vehicles after the area was hit by an earthquake in Zhaotong town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. Dozens of deaths have been reported. (AP Photo)
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In this photo provided by Xinhua News Agency, an injured villager is carried on a stretcher by rescuers following an earthquake in Luozehe Town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China on Friday, killing dozens of people with the toll expected to rise. Damage was preventing rescuers from reaching some outlying areas, and communications were disrupted. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhou Hongpeng)
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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 southwest China's Yunnan and Guizhou province on September 7, 2012. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the largest quake at 5.6 and said it struck at a depth of 10 kilometres, with the office of China Earthquake Administration announcing that around 20 persons were injured and six had died. AFP PHOTOSTR/AFP/GettyImages
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Residents look at the damage to an office building in Zhaotong town after a 5.6 earthquake struck on September 7, 2012. At least 50 people were killed when two shallow quakes struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China on Friday, toppling buildings, authorities and state media said. AFP PHOTOSTR/AFP/GettyImages
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Chinese paramilitary policemen carry an injured victim evacuated from earthquake hit Zhaotong town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported. (AP Photo)
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The outer wall and path at an office building is split in Zhaotong town after a 5.6 earthquake struck on September 7, 2012. At least 50 people were killed when two shallow quakes struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China on Friday, toppling buildings, authorities and state media said. AFP PHOTOSTR/AFP/GettyImages
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In this photo provided by Xinhua News Agency, a damaged truck parks by damaged houses in Luozehe Town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China on Friday, killing dozens of people with the toll expected to rise. Damage was preventing rescuers from reaching some outlying areas, and communications were disrupted. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhou Hongpeng)
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In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, buses encoutner the rockfall triggered by an earthquake in Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China on Friday, killing at least 50 people with the toll expected to rise. Damage was preventing rescuers from reaching some outlying areas, and communications were disrupted. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhang Guangyu)
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A woman tries to clear the fallen rocks from the mountain on a road near Zhaotong town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported. (AP Photo)
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People gather at a square following an earthquake in Zhaotong town, Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported. (AP Photo)
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A rock-fall blocks a road in Yiliang, southwest China's Yunnan province on September 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of southwest China. At least 50 people were killed and 550 injured when two shallow quakes with a magnitude of both at 5.6 struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and sparking chaos in the streets, officials said. AFP PHOTOAFP/AFP/GettyImages
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A motorbike lies buried under fallen rocks in Yiliang, southwest China's Yunnan province on September 7, 2012, after two shallow quakes struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of southwest China. At least 50 people were killed and 550 injured when two shallow quakes with a magnitude of both at 5.6 struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and sparking chaos in the streets, officials said. AFP PHOTOAFP/AFP/GettyImages
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A boulder lies on a road in Yiliang, southwest China's Yunnan province on September 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of southwest China. At least 50 people were killed and 550 injured when two shallow quakes with a magnitude of both at 5.6 struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and sparking chaos in the streets, officials said. AFP PHOTOAFP/AFP/GettyImages
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A damaged building in Yiliang, southwest China's Yunnan province on September 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of southwest China. At least 50 people were killed and 550 injured when two shallow quakes with a magnitude of both at 5.6 struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and sparking chaos in the streets, officials said. AFP PHOTOAFP/AFP/GettyImages
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A damaged vehicle is parked outside an apartment block in Yiliang on September 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. At least 64 people were killed and 550 injured when two quakes struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and pushing panicked crowds into the streets, officials and observers said. AFP PHOTOSTR/AFP/GettyImages
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Vehicles make their way slowly along the road after a rock-fall in Yiliang, southwest China's Yunnan province on September 7, 2012, following two shallow quakes that struck the remote and mountainous border area of Yunnan and Guizhou province of southwest China. At least 50 people were killed and 550 injured when two shallow quakes with a magnitude of both at 5.6 struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and sparking chaos in the streets, officials said. AFP PHOTOAFP/AFP/GettyImages
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A damaged vehicle lies on the side of a road in Yiliang on September 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. At least 64 people were killed and 550 injured when two quakes struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and pushing panicked crowds into the streets, officials and observers said. AFP PHOTOSTR/AFP/GettyImages
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Rescuers workers move in to assess the damages in Yiliang on September 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. At least 64 people were killed and 550 injured when two quakes struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and pushing panicked crowds into the streets, officials and observers said. AFP PHOTOSTR/AFP/GettyImages
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Rescuers workers move in to assess the damages in Yiliang on September 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. At least 64 people were killed and 550 injured when two quakes struck a remote and mountainous area of southwest China, toppling buildings and pushing panicked crowds into the streets, officials and observers said. AFP PHOTOSTR/AFP/GettyImages