Chongqing soldiers and armed police officers are fanning out to the quake-hit counties and villages in Yunnan Province.

Some 42 medical experts pooled from the major hospitals of Chongqing are joining forces with local rescuers in Ludian, Qiaojia and Huize counties.

They include 13 medical teams and four disease prevention units which have set up field hospitals and medical aid stations in all three counties.

By Tuesday morning, PLA troops and armed police officers had rescued more than 200 people from the rubble, transferring 500 people injured during the earthquake to nearby hospitals.