China Death Toll Climbs

589 people are dead and 10,000 others injured in a series of shattering earthquakes that hit China Wednesday, reports CNN.

The areas of China that were struck the hardest were some of the poorest. The weakly built buildings buried people alive as the structures quickly tumbled, reports CNN.

The largest earthquakes magnitude was 6.9. "A spokesman said: "An emergency response co-ordinated by the Chinese government is already underway," reports BBC.

Relief efforts have started off slow. Many have been pulled from the rubble, but it is only a start to fixing the damage that has been done, reports TIME.