Rain hampers China quake rescues

KUNMING, China — Rescuers found scores of survivors Monday as they dug through homes shattered by an earthquake in southern China that killed at least 398 people and injured more than 1,800. Rainstorms were expected to continue to hinder rescue efforts over the coming days.

About 12,000 homes collapsed when the quake struck Sunday afternoon in impoverished Ludian county, around 230 miles northeast of Yunnan province’s capital, Kunming, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Rescuers digging in the debris by hand freed a 5-year-old boy whose legs were injured, Xinhua reported. It also said firefighters rescued 32 people who had been trapped but had retrieved the bodies of 43 residents.

Drenched survivors, including some half-naked, were sitting along muddy roads in the rain waiting for food and medication, Xinhua reported. Medics were reporting severe shortages of medicine and an inability to perform operations on the severely injured, while rescuers said their work had been hampered by continuous downpours and quake-triggered landslides, Xinhua said.

Ma Yaoqi, an 18-year-old volunteer in the quake zone, said by phone that at least half of the buildings had collapsed on the road from the city center of Zhaotong to the hardest-hit town of Longtou. The rest of the buildings were damaged, she said.

Overhead footage of the quake zone shot by state broadcaster CCTV showed older houses flattened but newer multistory buildings still standing.

The magnitude-6.1 quake struck at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. China’s earthquake monitoring agency put the magnitude at 6.5.

The central government has allocated 600 million yuan ($97 million) for rescue and relief work after the quake, the Finance Ministry said.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms in the area were complicating efforts to bring tents, water, food and other relief supplies to survivors. Roads had caved in, and rescuers were forced to travel on foot.

The national meteorological center said the area would have thundershowers over the next three days.