The Buckingham

Photo Credit: www.worldnews.nbcnews.com

Earthquakes in southwestern China has left 80 people dead and 731 injured.

On Sept. 7, four earthquakes struck near the border of the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou.  The magnitudes of them were between 4.8 and 5.6, and struck at a depth of about six miles.

More than 6,600 homes were destroyed and about 430,000 were damaged in the quakes.

100,000 people have been evacuated since the quakes and another 100,000 are in need of relocation.  President Hu Jintao has called for immediate relief efforts.

The damage from the earthquakes are expected to cost the country more than half a billion dollars.

This isn’t the first time in recent years, however, that the southwester region of China has faced terrible earthquakes.  The area, which is prone to quakes, experienced a 7.9 quake in May 2008 that killed at least 69,000 people.