China quake killed at least 80

Blocked mountain roads were hampering rescue efforts after twin earthquakes struck southwestern China and killed at least 80 people, leaving officials worried Saturday that the death toll could rise further.    

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited an affected area on Saturday, meeting with some of the more than 100-thousand residents evacuated after Friday's quakes toppled thousands of houses and sent boulders cascading across roads in a remote mountainous area along the borders of Guizhou and Yunnan.    

According to state media Wen had arrived in hardest hit Yunnan to help direct the rescue effort. The first magnitude-5.6 quake struck Friday morning and was followed by an equally strong quake shortly after noon, joined by dozens of aftershocks.       

Though of moderate strength, the quakes were shallow, which often causes more damage.   

The state-run Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that 80 people had died in the quakes.   

It said earlier that hundreds had been hurt, but did not immediately give a new injury toll Saturday.   

Hardest hit was Yiliang County, where all but one of the deaths occurred, according to the Yunnan provincial government's official website.   

Xinhua quoted Yunnan's civil affairs department as saying Friday's quakes destroyed 6,650 houses and damaged 430,000 others.      

Besides the 100,000 residents already evacuated, another 100,000 were in need of relocation, the department said.     

The government has sent thousands of tents, blankets and containers of water into the area.      

Weather forecasts Saturday said there was a chance of rain over the next three days, which could hamper rescue work.     

Though quakes occur in the area frequently, buildings in rural areas and China's fast-growing smaller cities and towns are often constructed poorly.     

A magnitude-7.9 quake that hit Sichuan province, just north of Yunnan, in 2008 killed nearly 90,000 people, with many of the deaths blamed on poorly built structures, including schools.   


APTN