A series of earthquakes jolted a mountainous part of southwestern China on Friday, collapsing houses, triggering landslides and killing at least 43 people.

The quakes, which ranged from a magnitude of 4.8 to 5.6, struck rural, agricultural areas of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. The spokesman from the Yunnan seismological bureau, Zhang Junwei, said most of the deaths were in the worst-hit county of Yiliang in Yunnan.

Mr. Zhang said another 150 people were hurt.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the quakes destroyed or damaged 20,000 homes. Buildings in rural areas in China are often constructed poorly.

In 2008, a severe earthquake in Sichuan province, just north of Yunnan, killed nearly 90,000 people, with many of the deaths blamed on poorly built buildings, including schools.