Sixty-four people have been confirmed dead and 715 others were injured after multiple earthquakes struck SW China.

Sixty-four people have been confirmed dead and 715 others were injured after multiple earthquakes struck a mountainous region in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Friday, the Xinhua state-run news agency said on Friday, citing provincial authorities.

Residents described people running out of buildings as the two quakes hit on the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces an hour apart around the middle of the day, followed by a string of aftershocks.