Quakes in southwest China kill dozens, damage 20,000 homes

Soldiers carry an injured person with a stretcher towards safer area after two earthquakes hit Zhaotong, Yunnan province, September 7, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - Two shallow 5.6 magnitude earthquakes hit mountainous south-western China on Friday, killing at least 64 people and forcing tens of thousands of people from damaged buildings, state media said.

The quakes struck near the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, the first one at 11:19 a.m. (4:19 a.m. British time) and the second one about 45 minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey said.