BEIJING: Rescuers dug with their bare hands through the rubble of a devastating quake which hit a remote area of China Wednesday, killing 400 people and injuring thousands as it toppled mud-and-wood houses and school buildings.
Among the dead were children buried when the quake measuring at least 6.9 rocked a predominantly Tibetan region in the northwestern province of Qinghai, in scenes that brought back memories of a massive killer quake two years ago.
About 10,000 people were injured in the quake, which disrupted telecommunications, knocked out electricity, toppled temples and triggered landslides, hampering rescue efforts in the mountainous area.
State media spoke of panicked residents fleeing their homes while others hunted for loved-ones trapped in the ruins in Yushu prefecture, the epicenter of the latest disaster to strike the world s most populous nation.
President Hu Jintao called for all-out efforts to save as many people as possible, with over 5,000 rescuers including soldiers rushing to the disaster zone while the government said it would provide over $29 million in aid.
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama offered his prayers for those who lost their lives while Pope Benedict XVI called for solidarity with the victims and nations including Japan and France offered help.
About 400 people have been confirmed dead, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting Huang Limin, a top official in Yushu, who said many people were still buried in the rubble as aftershocks rumbled on.
There are 10 people in my family and only four of us escaped. One of my relatives died. All the others are buried under the rubble, Samdrup Gyatso, 17, told Xinhua after his two-storey home crumbled.
The US Geological Survey put the quake at a magnitude of 6.9 while the China Earthquake Administration measured it at 7.1.
Meteorologists are predicting strong winds and sleet in coming days and seismologists warned of further aftershocks, adding to the trauma of the victims facing a night in the high-altitude zone without shelter.
Zhuohuaxia, an official in Jiegu, seat of the Yushu government, reported a lack of tents, medicines and medical equipment for the survivors.
The quake wreaked havoc on the flimsy earth and wood houses near the epicenter, which lies around 800 kilometers or at least 12 hours by road from the provincial capital.
The injured are everywhere in the street, a lot of people are bleeding from head wounds, Xinhua quoted Zhuohuaxia as saying, adding that more than 85 percent of houses collapsed in Jiegu.
Some sturdier concrete structures were also toppled, and Xinhua reported that a reservoir was cracked, sending workers scrambling to prevent any outflow of water.
Among the casualties were children trapped under the rubble of at least one collapsed school in Jiegu, with Xinhua reporting that at least five pupils had died.
Some pupils ran out of dorms alive, and those who had not escaped in time were buried, said one teacher.
The scene was reminiscent of the huge quake in May 2008 in Sichuan province, where thousands of children died when their shoddily-constructed schools fell on them – an issue that caused big controversy in China.
Nearly 87,000 people were killed or missing in the 2008 disaster, the worst in China in more than three decades.
Kang Zifu, a local fire department official, was quoted as telling state television that about 20 children were buried, while at least 32 people had been pulled alive from debris in Jiegu.
Rescue teams including 700 soldiers and more than 5,000 other people are being rushed to the disaster zone, Xinhua said, while the civil affairs ministry was to send 5,000 tents, 50,000 coats and 50,000 quilts.
State television broadcast images of dogs being led into huge planes going to the scene to help with the search for survivors.
We have to mainly rely on our hands to clear away the debris as we have no large excavating machines, said Shi Huajie, a paramilitary police officer. We have no medical equipment either.
A series of aftershocks rattled the area, and the quake was also felt strongly in neighboring regions, including Tibet, Xinhua said.
The remote high-altitude region is prone to earthquakes. Its economy is based heavily on farming and livestock herding by its overwhelmingly ethnic Tibetan population.
