Nearly 9,000 feared dead in China earthquake

New Delhi: A powerful earthquake hit China's Sichuan province on Monday afternoon. Almost 8,700 people are reported dead with every indication that the death toll will rise. The after shocks of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake were felt as far as Beijing and the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

A resident of Chongqing, Wu Ying was stated as saying: "I was so scared, the room I was staying in was shaking."

Communications were disrupted with only a trickle of news coming into Sichuan's capital, Chengdu.

However, reports have suggested that the devastation could be widespread. Houses and buildings have collapsed, trapping hundreds of people. School buildings caved in killing scores of children and communication lines have broken down with most mobile phone towers having collapsed.

The 44 aftershocks that followed saw buildings sway even in Beijing more than 2,000 km away. Tremors were also reported from 10 other provinces including Ningxia, Qiinghai, Gansu and even Tibet, although no reports of casualties have come in.

Premier Wen Jiabao is in Chengdu and is personally supervising rescue operations.

In a speech that he made just after the quake, the Premier said: "Compatriots and comrades, the most important things when we face the disaster are calm, confidence, courage and strong direction. I believe with the strong direction of the Party Central Committee and State Council, our army and people united together, we definitely will overcome this very serious disaster, the earthquake."

President Hu Jintao ordered 3,000 troops in the affected area. The army has mobilised moving in troops and rescue equipment. Medical teams are being rushed from Beijing and other provinces.

China has not appealed for any international assistance so far and no damage has been reported to the Olympic site, which the authorities say they made quake proof.

There has been no damage either to the Three Gorges dam in Sichuan which was reported safe.

This is Sichuan's worst earthquake in 30 years. The last quake to hit China was in 2003 in Xinjiang, which killed 94 people, while the worst was the quake that struck Tangshan in 1976 which killed more than 2 lakh people.