Death toll from China earthquake rises to 86

The death toll from an earthquake that hit south-west China has risen to 86.
State media reported that at least a further 270 people were injured, 62 of them seriously, while 35 were still considered missing on Thursday, three days after the 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit on Monday.
Sichuan province and its Luding area were particularly badly hit, especially Ganzi prefecture, where mainly Tibetans live, and Shimian near the city of Ya'an. The area is some two hours by car south-west of the province's capital city Chengdu.
A large-scale rescue operation with thousands of people has been under way for days and the military has also been mobilized. Thousands of houses have been destroyed or damaged. The quake also prompted landslides that blocked off streets.
Sichuan province, which lies on the edge of the overthrust fault of the Indian continental plate and the Eurasian plate, is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. In 2008, the area was hit by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that left more than 80,000 people dead.