Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a major earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province has climbed to 9,219, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said here Tuesday morning.

    The 7.8-magnitude quake has killed 9,219 people in eight affected provinces and municipality of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Shanxi, Guizhou, Hubei and Chongqing, the ministry said in a release issued at 7 a.m..

Rescuers work in Dujiangyan city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, on May 13, 2008. A major eathquake measuring 7.8 on Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m. on Monday. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua)   Photo Gallery>>>

    Of the killed, 8,993 were in Sichuan, 132 in Gansu, 85 in Shaanxi, eight in Chongqing and one in Yunnan, the ministry said.

    The quake jolted Wenchuan County of Sichuan at 2:28 p.m. Monday, which also leveled some 500,000 rooms in the affected areas.

    To cope with the catastrophe, the State Disaster Relief Commission and the Civil Affairs Ministry immediately initiated a "Level II emergency response plan" on Monday afternoon, and upgraded it to level I in the evening, the ministry said.

    According to China's regulations, natural disasters in the country are classified into four categories based on their severity. The Level I emergency plan covers the most serious class of natural disasters.

    A disaster relief work group of the State Council, China's Cabinet, rushed to the quake-hit county of Wenchuan on Monday evening to coordinate the rescue and relief work.

    Meanwhile, the ministry said strong winds and hailstorms lashed Hubei, Hebei and Jiangsu provinces from Sunday evening to early Monday morning, affecting more than 630,000 people.

    In central China's Hubei Province, the hailstorms attacked 10 counties, affecting 515,000 people, collapsing 85 rooms of 33 households and damaging another 4,761 rooms as of 11 a.m. Monday. The direct economic loss was estimated at 385 million yuan (55 million U.S. dollars).

    Hailstorms also lashed three counties of north China's Hebei Province on Sunday, affecting 92,100 locals and resulting in a direct economic loss of 7.65 million yuan.

    In east China's Jiangsu Province, 24,000 people also suffered from strong winds and hails Sunday evening. Four rooms were leveled and 60 others damaged with a direct economic loss of 1.46 million yuan.  

People try to find their property among the debris of collapsed buildings in Dujiangyan, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, on May 12, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Chinese Premier orders to open up roads to epicenter before 12 p.m. 

   DUJIANGYAN, Sichuan, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ordered to remove barriers and open up roads to epicenter before 12 p.m. Tuesday after a strong earthquake jolted southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday afternoon.

    Wen held an emergency meeting at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, saying "We must try our best to open up roads to the epicenter and rescue people trapped in the disaster-hit areas." Full story

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