<p><br /> A series of strong earthquakes have struck western China's Qinghai province killing at least 400 people and injuring more than 10,000.<br /> </p><p><br /> They were killed when houses made of mud and wood collapsed. Officials say many more people are still trapped and they expect the toll to rise.<br /> </p><p><br /> Paramilitary police were forced to use shovels to dig through the rubble in a Qinghai province township where most of the homes had been flattened.<br /> </p><p><br /> With a lack of excavators and with most of the roads leading to the nearest airport damaged, equipment and rescuers are having a hard time reaching the area.<br /> </p><p><br /> Downed phone lines, strong winds and frequent aftershocks have also hindered rescue efforts.<br /> </p><p><br /> Workers are racing to release water from a reservoir in the disaster area where a crack had formed after the quake to prevent a flood.<br /> </p><p><br /> The magnitude-6.9 quake struck in an area in the south of Qinghai province, near Tibet. It was centered on Yushu county, with a population of around 100,000.<br /> </p><p><br /> The quake was one of six recorded in less than three hours.<br /> </p><p><br /> The earthquake comes a little less than two years after a magnitude-7.9 quake in neighbouring Sichuan province left almost 90,000 people dead or missing.<br /> </p><p><br /> That quake flattened several schools, killing thousands of students. Poor design, shoddy construction and the lax enforcement of building codes were found to be rampant.<br /> </p>
