6.5 magnitude earthquake kills 381 in China

Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Sunday that the tremor which occurred at a depth of 12 kilometers at 16:30 local time in Long Toushan township toppled more than 12,000 houses and left 30,000 damaged -- particularly old dwellings and residential homes. A volunteer rescuer told Xinhua that he had seen corpses buried among the ruins, and helped to carry more than 40 people from collapsed buildings. A local described driving a car during the tremor as like "sailing a boat" with the landscape moving around him, while a resident told Xinhua that the streets were like "battlefield after bombardment." Transportation, electricity and telecommunications have been cut off in the township, 23 kilometers southwest of the county seat of Ludian, Zhaotong City. Zhaotong has dispatched more than 300 police and firefighters to help along with 392 rescuers and 12 sniffer dogs. In 2012, 5.7 magnitude quakes in Zhaotong City killed 80 people whilst more than 800 were injured.