Dujiangyan, China (AFP) May 13, 2008
China's biggest earthquake for a generation left tens of thousands dead, missing or buried under the rubble of crushed communities Tuesday, plunging the nation into an all-out aid effort.
Troops and rescue teams struggled by air, land and water to reach areas of southwestern China stricken by the huge quake that demolished schools, homes and factories.
Monday's 7.8-magnitude quake in Sichuan province has killed nearly 10,000 people, according to official tolls, but the figure is expected to rise dramatically with at least 10,000 people reported buried in Mianzhu city alone.
Television pictures showed shattered buildings, roads split in two, rubble littering streets and survivors fighting to free themselves from the debris, even as aftershocks continued to pummel the region.
China mobilised its 2.3 million-strong armed forces to lead the search and rescue effort, but attempts to reach the worst-hit areas were badly disrupted by torrential rain and the sheer scale of the damage.
"The situation is worse than we previously estimated," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at disaster relief headquarters in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan, "and we need more people here to help."