Death toll rises after Chinese earthquake

Soldiers clear debris to search for survivors of the quake (Ran Peizong/Xinhua via AP)

The death toll from this week’s earthquake in western China has jumped to 74 with another 26 people still missing, the government has said.

The 6.8 magnitude quake that struck just after noon on Monday in Sichuan province caused extensive damage to homes in the Ganze Tibetan Autonomous Region and shook buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu, whose 21 million citizens are under a strict Covid-19 lockdown.