A strong earthquake in Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province has rocked China on May 12, 2008. The earthquake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale according to China's State Seismological Bureau was felt in the thousands-kilometers-away provinces or regions including Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hongkong, and Taiwan among others. The powerful earthquake killed at least 107 8533 people and buried thousands of middle school students in Sichuan as the tremor caused buildings to fall. The epicenter of the quake was located 31.0 degrees north latitude and 103.4 degrees east longitude, reported Xinhua.
Wenchuan is believed to the worst hit area in the quake. As the local telecommunications have totally been cut off, there are no immediate causalities reported and the authorities now have to rely on the military helicopters to inspect the affected area. For those who are panda lovers, you may have to worry about Wenchuan, because it is home to Wolong National Natural Reserve, the place where Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center is situated.
Relief workers are rescuing students buried in Dujiangyan Juyuan Middle School.
Doctors from General Hospital of Chinese PLA in Chengdu are operating on the injured in an outdoor hospital.