Powerful quake kills thousands in southwest China
************************EXCERPT************************
May 12 11:48 AM US/Eastern
Breitbart
massive earthquake stunned southwest China on Monday, killing more than 8,000 people and flattening schools, factories and homes in a powerful tremor that was felt across a swathe of southeast Asia.
The quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck close to densely-populated areas of Sichuan province in what Premier Wen Jiabao called a "major disaster."
China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported 8,533 confirmed dead in that province alone, but there were fears the toll will rise far higher with others killed in neighbouring regions and reports of hundreds buried under debris.
Buildings swayed in Beijing and Shanghai, while the quake was also felt in Hong Kong, Hanoi and Taipei and in the Thai capital Bangkok, 1,800 kilometres (1,200 miles) from the epicentre.
"Facing disaster, the most important thing is calm, confidence, courage and strong leadership," Wen told China's CCTV television on a flight to the heart of the quake-hit zone.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency cited local disaster relief officials saying 3,000 to 5,000 people were estimated to have died in just one district of Sichuan, Beichuan County.
A further 10,000 people were injured in the county, where officials said 80 percent of buildings had collapsed.
"I heard the vents ruffling and then started to feel the building shake and a couple of bits of the ceiling fell," Richard Morgan-Sanjurjo, a 30-year-old business consultant who lives in Chengdu, told AFP.
"I ran so fast. I thought the building was going to come down on my head," he said.
US President George W. Bush expressed his condolences and said the United States "stands ready to help," and Japan said it was ready to provide as much relief aid as possible.
The quake damaged two chemical plants in Shifeng, about 50 kilometres from the epicentre, burying hundreds of people and forcing more than 6,000 others living nearby to be evacuated, Xinhua said.
It earlier reported up to 900 students buried when a high school collapsed in Dujiangyan, northwest of the provincial capital Chengdu. At least 50 bodies were recovered as frantic parents looked on.
ping!