900 Students Feared Buried Alive in Quake
Posted on: Monday, 12 May 2008, 09:00 CDT
Up to 900 students may have been trapped when a high school collapsed in a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in China that killed at least 107 people, officials said.
The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs said another 34 people were injured from the quake that rocked southwestern China Monday afternoon, reported Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency. The epicenter was in Wenshuan County in China's Sichuan province.
Tremors were felt in other parts of China, including the southern island province of Hainan, as well as Bangkok, Thailand, and Hanoi, Vietnam.
An underground water pipe burst near Chengdu's southern railway station, flooding a downtown area. Damage reports also included collapsed and cracks buildings in residential areas and downed communication networks, the news agency reported.
Venues for the 2008 Summer Olympics weren't damaged, Xinhua reported.
This is a very dangerous earthquake, Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told CNN.
Presgrave said the quake's damage potential was great because of its strength, nearness to population centers and shallow epicenter.
Five more earthquakes, measuring in magnitude between 4.0 and 6.0, occurred in nearby areas over the next several hours, USGS reported.
Source: United Press International
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