LUDIAN, Yunnan -- Rescuers from the People's Liberation Army pulled a survivor out of rubble three days after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Southwest China's Yunnan province.

Yan Li was buried up to her neck in debris from houses and rocks when the rescuers found her and her uninjured brother, Yan Rong, on Wednesday morning.

She had helped her pregnant sister-in-law exit the house after the earthquake occurred on Sunday but she was unable to escape, her brother said, adding that he had fed her over the past three days.

Yan was losing consciousness at the time of rescue on Wednesday evening and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

She is the first survivor found by rescuers after the 72-hour window that is considered to be the "golden period" for survival.

As of Wednesday morning, the death toll from the Yunnan tremor, the strongest quake in the region in 14 years, had risen to 589, with nine people still missing, the provincial civil affairs department said.