Rescuers searching for survivors from earthquakes in China that killed at least 81 people were yesterday striving to reach the final isolated pockets after combing more than 90 per cent of the remote area.

China National Radio reported that search and rescue teams were close to completing their sweep of the mountainous region after two 5.6-magnitude quakes rocked southwestern Guizhou and Yunan provinces on Friday.

The quakes also injured at least 820 people and displaced 201,000 in the resource-rich but impoverished region.

As rescue efforts continued, a steady stream of ambulances offloaded the bloodstained injured at a hospital in Yiliang, the county worst hit by the quakes, which demolished more than 7,000 homes.

Officials at the crowded hospital set up about 20 tents on its grounds to ensure there was enough space to deal with the influx, but the blazing midday sun ensured there was no comfort for patients.

Stones were still falling down from cliffs yesterday, causing alarm among aid workers and soldiers drafted in for the rescue effort, who are on the alert for signs of further landslides.

Footage on state broadcaster CCTV showed trucks carrying tents to provide shelter for those evacuated from their homes, which overstretched hospitals have been using the tents as makeshift wards.

Funerals had already been held for dozens of people who died in the quakes, a Yiliang government official said, saying that more burials would be held yesterday.

Amid fears of disease outbreaks after thousands of cattle were killed, authorities have dispatched several hundred epidemic prevention workers to the area.