Updated Aug. 4, 2014 4:23 a.m. ET
At least 381 people are dead in China's southwestern Yunnan province after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake shook the region Sunday. Carlos Tejada in Beijing tells Ramy Inocencio about China's response to this latest temblor.
BEIJING—Bad weather and heavy rubble are hampering rescue efforts in a southwestern Chinese region stricken by an earthquake that killed at least 398 people and injured 1,800 more.
On Monday, 66 people were pulled from the rubble, 30 of them still alive, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency. Roads were blocked leading into the area in southwestern Yunnan province, with passenger cars and large trucks forbidden from entering as rescue goods were rushed to the scene, state media said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.1 quake struck at a spot 29 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of the city of Zhaotong, which had 5.2 million people as of 2012, according to the local government. The China Earthquake Networks Center, which put the magnitude at 6.5, put the earthquake's epicenter in Ludian County, which is home to about 266,000.
As the day waned, state media cited reports that ordinary passenger cars were causing traffic jams and repeatedly urged people to stay out of the way. "Rescue operations are ongoing, time is life!" wrote the People's Daily on its verified microblog account. According to the World Health Organization, those trapped in felled buildings after earthquakes rarely survive for more than 48 hours.
As news of the disaster continued to emerge, some rushed toward the region to seek information about loved ones. Mao Quan, who works in the provincial capital of Kunming about 350 kilometers to the south, said he set off by taxi late Sunday after hearing the news. By Monday afternoon, he was still about an hour by foot away from his home village in Ludian County.
Mr. Mao said he was able to reach his relatives briefly via phone on Sunday and understands some are badly hurt. "The only thing I can do now is get home immediately," he said.
A general view shows collapsed houses after an earthquake hit Ludian county in China's Yunnan province on Sunday. Reuters
Yang Si, a Ludian County resident, said she and her immediate family were 25 kilometers away from her home when the earth began to shake. Members of her extended family were in the disaster zone when the quake struck, said Ms. Yang, who now is rushing home.
"I couldn't reach my relatives by mobile phone and it seems communication has all gone down there. I haven't heard from anybody I know there," she said. "This is truly painful."
The quake was the strongest to hit the temblor-prone region in 14 years, state media said. By Monday afternoon, the official People's Daily said via its social-media account, citing local medical personnel, that most of the injured had been transferred to secure locations.
Stations offering charging facilities and the ability to make phone calls were set up Monday, along with hotlines for relatives seeking information about loved ones.
The earthquake, which occurred at about 4:30 p.m. local time Sunday, caused tens of thousands of buildings in the county to collapse, according to Xinhua.
According to CCTV, 300 of the nearly 9,000 armed police being sent to the area have already arrived at one of the worst-hit villages, Baogunao. The country's premier, Li Keqiang, arrived at the site of the quake on Monday. Owing to the extent of the road damage in the area, state media said, the premier was forced to proceed on foot for five kilometers, greeting rescue personnel and examining felled brick walls.
The quake was shallow, with a depth of about 10 kilometers, according to the USGS, and was felt in neighboring provinces. Shallow quakes often result in more damage than deeper ones.
Rescuers transport an injured man after the earthquake in Ludian county. Zuma Press
On social media, residents who identified themselves as living in Ludian reported feeling multiple aftershocks, each lasting for about three seconds, amid falling rain.
State media showed photos of toppled houses and cracked walls, as well as of rescuers looking for survivors. Xinhua quoted a Ludian resident as saying the streets were like "a battlefield after bombardment."
Meanwhile, the earthquake caused a landslide that in turn blocked a local river, causing serious flooding that brought down more than 50 buildings and forced many residents to evacuate, state media said.
The People's Daily posted photos of orange-clad rescuers taking a short break to nap amid rubble. Other images posted by state media showed camouflage-dressed officers carrying babies and victims out on stretchers or by piggyback.
Xinhua said the city of Zhaotong was hit by a 5.7-magnitude earthquake in September 2012, leading to 80 deaths and hundreds of injuries. In 1974, a 7.1-magnitude quake in the city killed more than 1,400 people, it said.
--Kersten Zhang and Yang Jie contributed to this article.
Write to Te-Ping Chen at te-ping.chen@wsj.com and Josh Chin at josh.chin@wsj.com
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