5 dead as China quake crushes schools

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At least five people were killed and 100 hurt when two primary school buildings and a water tower collapsed after an earthquake capable of causing major damage shook central China on Monday.

The quake registered a magnitude of 7.8, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Four students died and many were wounded when the schools collapsed in the Chongqing municipality, about 215 miles (345 kilometers) southeast of the epicenter, according to China\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s official news agency Xinhua.

Another person was killed when a water tower fell in the city of Mianyang, Xinhua reported.

The Three Gorges Dam in Wenchuan -- near Chongqing -- was not damaged, a spokesman there said.

Five more earthquakes -- measuring between 4.0 and 6.0 magnitudes -- happened nearby over the two hours, the USGS reported.

Chinese President Hu Jintao immediately ordered an all-out effort to help victims of the earthquakes, Xinhua reported.

It said Premier Wen Jiabao would go there to direct the rescue work.

China\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s state-run CCTV reported no serious damage in Chengdu, a city of more than 10 million that is about 60 miles from the epicenter, in the eastern part of China\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Sichuan province.

Bonnie Thie, the country director of the Peace Corps, was on a university campus in Chengdu when the first quake hit.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You could see the ground shaking,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Thie said.

The shaking \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"went on for what seemed like a very long time,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" she said.

Plaster fell from some walls, she said, but she saw no fallen bricks or broken windows.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This is a very dangerous earthquake,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" said Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake has the potential to cause major damage because of its strength and proximity to major population centers, he said. In addition, the earthquake was relatively shallow, Presgrave said, and those kinds of quakes tend to do more damage near the epicenter than deeper ones.

An earthquake with 7.5 magnitude in the northern Chinese city of Tangshan killed 255,000 people in 1976 -- the greatest death toll from an earthquake in the last four centuries and the second greatest in recorded history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Tangshan is roughly 995 miles (1,600 km) from Chengdu, the nearest major city to the epicenter of Monday\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s quake.

On Monday, the ground shook as far away as Beijing, which is 950 miles (1,528 km) from the epicenter. They felt \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"a very quiet rolling sensation\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" that lasted for about a minute, according to CNN correspondent John Vause.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Our building began to sway,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he said.

Thousands of people were evacuated from Beijing high-rises immediately after the earthquake.

A spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Committee said no Olympic venues were affected by the earthquake.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They were all constructed according to government-mandated specifications, including ability to sustain major earthquakes like this one,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" said Zhu Jing, the spokesman.

The first earthquake happened at 2:28 p.m. local time (0728 GMT, 0228 ET), the USGS said.

The earthquake was also felt in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, and as far away as Hanoi, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand, according to the Hong Kong-based Mandarin-language channel Phoenix TV.

CNN对中国地震的快报

周一，在中国中部发生地震，据最新报道，至少900名儿童被压在废墟中，报道中未提及他们存活的可能性。在地震引发的两所学校和一个水塔的坍塌中，至少5人死亡，100人受伤。
根据美国地震局报道，地震有7.8级。
根据中国官方新华社的报道，有4人在重庆的学校坍塌中死亡，多人受伤。重庆市距离震中345公里。
新华社报道，另一个人因水塔坍塌而亡。
发言人称，在重庆附近的三峡大坝未受损伤。
美国地震局报告称，在地震发生的两个小时之内，发生了5次以上四到六级的余震。

新华社报道，中国国家主席胡锦涛立即发出了全力救援地震灾民的命令。
温家宝总理将直接前往灾区指导救援工作。

据中国官方CCTV的报道，距离震中60公里的成都市没有任何破坏，该城市在四川省东部，拥有1000万以上人口。
Bonnie Thie，美国和平队的队长，当第一波地震发生的时候正在成都的一所大学之中。


“你可以看到，地都在颤动。” Thie说。
“振动仿佛持续了很长时间”她说。
石灰从墙上剥落下来，但是她没有看到砖石掉落，或者玻璃的损坏。

美国地震局的地理学家Bruce Presgrave说：“地震很强烈。”
他说，由于地震靠近人口中心且威力巨大，它还有造成重大破坏的潜力。地震的牵连并不广，Presgrave说，这种类型的地震会对震中附近造成更大的破坏而非纵深。
据美国地震局的资料，1976年的唐山地震造成255000人死亡，它的震级为7.5级。在那次地震中死亡的人数是4个世纪以来最多的，且是历史上第二高的数字。
唐山距离成都1600公里，成都是距离震中最近的大城市。

CNN通讯记者John Vause称，周一，远在北京也产生了震感。北京距震中1528公里。那里的人们感到了持续一分钟的“轻微晃动”。
“我们的大楼开始摇摆，”他说。
在那次地震后，数千的北京人从大楼里撤离。

北京奥委会发言人称，地震对奥运设施未产生破坏。
“它们都是严格依照政府的标准建立的，包括抵御这次这样的地震。”发言人Zhu Jing,说。


第一次地震发生于当地时间下午2:28分，美国地震局说。
据在香港的中文媒体凤凰卫视报道，香港，上海，甚至远到越南的河内，泰国曼谷均有震感。

默默为灾区人民祝福