
BEIJING: The devastated quake centered in Sichuan province in China has so far claimed 10,000 lives. According to Chinese state TV, hundred of persons were feared dead in many other areas of the province.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao monitored rescue works; Chinese army units were also engaged in rescue and relief operations. Wen said more damage had been caused in worst earthquake than it was initially estimated.
According to the US Geological Survey, tremor shocks struck southwestern Chinese Sichuan province and it was of 7.8-magnitude quake at a depth of 10 km. In Shefang city in Sichuan, 6,000 residents were evacuated after two chemical plants were leveled, trapping more than a hundred people and spilling corrosive liquids.
The government has rushed troops and medical teams to dig for survivors and treat the injured. More than 7,000 have died in Sichuan's Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, where 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed.