BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) — The death toll from the devastating earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan Province rose to 40,075 nationwide as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Information Office of the State Council.

Another 247,645 people were injured in the 8.0-magnitude quake that jolted southwestern Sichuan Province last Monday.

At a press conference earlier Tuesday, the information office also said that 32,361 people were missing as of Tuesday noon.

In Sichuan Province alone, 39,577 people have been confirmed dead and another 236,359 people injured as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.

As of midday Tuesday, 159 aftershocks measuring above 4 on the Richter scale had been detected in Sichuan, according to the China Seismological Bureau. Aftershocks measured above magnitude 5 numbered 26, with four stronger than magnitude 6.

About 5.36 million buildings have collapsed and more than 21 million were damaged in the earthquake, according to figures available as of Monday evening, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The quake affected 434 counties in 10 provinces and municipalities in China, the ministry said in a statement issued Tuesday.

The worst-affected areas include central and northern Sichuan’sAba Prefecture, Mianyang, Deyang, Guangyuan, Ya’an and Chengdu, southeastern Gansu’s Longnan, and Hanzhong and Baoji in southern and western Shaanxi Province.

Among the 34 worst-hit counties, 21 are in Sichuan, eight in Shaanxi and five in Gansu.

By Monday at midnight, up to 360,159 people trapped during the quake had been rescued and transported to safe areas, among whom 6,375 were excavated from rubble, according to the military source.

Military rescuers had reached all 1,044 worst-hit villages under 134 townships in southwestern Sichuan Province as of Tuesday evening.

A total of 278,462 tents, 783,984 quilts, 1.78 million pieces of cotton-padded clothes and 218 million yuan worth of food and drinking water had been allocated to the quake zones as of 1 p.m. Tuesday by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The Civil Affairs ministry and the Finance Ministry are also planning to provide each homeless quake victim who lacks an income with a daily subsidy of 10 yuan and 500 grams of food for three months, starting from late May. Orphans, widowed elders with no children and handicapped persons who lost relatives will receive another monthly subsidy of 600 yuan for three months. A 5,000-yuancompensation fund for relatives of the quake dead in the quake is also guaranteed.

As of Tuesday noon, domestic and international donations to the quake areas have reached close to 14 billion yuan, compared with 11.7 million yuan from central and local government budgets by 2 p.m. Tuesday.

So far, the provincial power grids in quake-hit Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi as well as Chongqing Municipality have been in normal operation while the electricity supply to Gansu, Chongqing and Shaanxi has resumed normal levels.

But, power supply was still cut off in the worst-hit Beichuan, Maoxian and Wolong counties, the information office said.

Repairs on the Baoji-Chengdu Railway are also under way.

Telecommunications lines between the outside world and the eight worst-hit counties in Sichuan (Wenchuan, Lixian, Maoxian, Qingchuan, Pingwu, Heishui, Beichuan and Mianzhu) were functional as of Tuesday noon. Of the 201 townships under the eight counties,146 had telecommunication access.

Plans for reconstruction will be worked out after authorities finish moving survivors to safe areas.

As of 2 p.m. Monday, 80 percent of the dead in Sichuan had been buried or cremated, while all bodies in other provinces reporting quake deaths have been properly handled to prevent possible plague in the quake zones.

Authorities will collect pictures and body tissue samples of those who cannot be identified before burial or cremation, to build a DNA database for future identification.

In the meantime, the State Council is calling for more tents to provide shelter for quake victims.

“Tents, what we need the most are more tents,” said Jiang Li, the vice minister of civil affairs, at the press conference on Tuesday afternoon, appealing for international help.

Sufficient supplies of food, and drinking water was emphasized by the State Council, which also called for providing psychological assistance to quake victims and their relatives.

Click this link to see the slide show of China earthquake:  I don’t know and I do know .

BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) — The death toll in China’s devastating earthquake rose to 34,073 as of 12:00 a.m. Monday, according to the earthquake relief headquarters of the State Council.

    And 245,108 others were injured in the 8.0-magnitude quake that jolted southwestern Sichuan Province last Monday.

    According to the Ministry of Health, about 52,934 people have been hospitalized and 7,979 have recovered while 3,304 died in hospital.

    The country of 1.3 billion people started a three-day mourning for the quake victims from Monday with flags flying at half-mast and all public amusements suspended.

    Meanwhile, the whole country has been mobilized for rescue and relief work.

    By Sunday evening, the civil affairs departments and army had sent more than 250,000 tents, 723,500 quilts, 1.78 million clothes as well as food and drinking water worth of 34.22 million yuan (4.96 million U.S. dollar) to the quake-hit regions.

    According to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC),power supply to all quake-hit counties have been restored fully or partly, except Beichuan, Maoxian and Wolong.

    Meanwhile, IDR satellite devices have been provided for 76 of the 109 quake-hit townships where telecom service was shut off, and fixed line phone service has been reconnected in seven worst-hit counties in Sichuan as of 8:48 p.m. Sunday.

A 61 year old woman was rescued after being burried for 164 hours in Wenchuan earthquake 3:30 pm, May 19, 2008 local time in Baichuan County. She is now in stable condition after the treatment by a medical team of the Chinese troops.

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) — The death toll from magnitude 8.0 earthquake that jolted southwest China’s Sichuan Province had risen to 32,476 nationwide as of 2 p.m. Sunday, the emergency response office under the State Council said Sunday evening, correcting a previous figure of 32,477.

The number of injured reached 220,109, it said.

In Sichuan alone, a total of 31,978 people were killed since Monday’s deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake, with 209,905 others injured.

Statistics from the emergency response office show that the death toll in Deyang and Mianyang cities of the province hit 10,341 and 11,874 respectively.

The office also gave a breakdown of the death toll in other areas as 4,156 in Chengdu, 2,586 in Guangyuan, 2,871 in Aba and 23 in Ya’an.

Outside Sichuan, the death toll was 364 in Gansu Province, 113 in Shaanxi Province, 16 in Chongqing Municipality, two in Henan Province, one in Yunnan Province, one in Hubei Province, and one in Hunan Province.

BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) — China on Monday began a three-day national mourning for the tens of thousands of people killed in a powerful earthquake which struck the country’s southwest on May 12.

At 4:58 a.m., the national flag at the Tian’anmen Square in downtown Beijing flew at half-mast after a complete flag-raising ceremony.

About 2,600 people watched the flag-raising ceremony in the square.

“I have been watching TV to know the disaster situation these days,” said Yu Huilin, a 58-year-old retired teacher. Yu just arrived in Beijing by bus in the early hours on Monday from eastern Shandong Province.

“It’s really heartrending,” she said. “But I see the quake-affected people have got help from so many people. I believe they can recover from the disaster soon rebuild their homes.”

All national flags will fly at half-mast at home and Chinese diplomatic missions abroad from Monday to Wednesday. Public recreational activities will be halted during the mourning period.

At 2:28 p.m. Monday, Chinese citizens nationwide will stand in silence for three minutes to mourn for the victims, while air raid sirens and horns of automobiles, trains and ships will wail in grief.

In the mourning period, condolence books will be opened in China’s Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world.

The Beijing Olympic torch relay will also be suspended from Monday to Wednesday.

The death toll from the massive quake rose to 32,476 nationwide as of 2 p.m. Sunday, while the injured numbered 220,109, according to the emergency response office under the State Council.

Among the dead, 31,978 were in Sichuan alone with the rest in six other provinces and a municipality.

The quake hit Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, at 2:28 p.m. of May 12. Many other areas were also affected.

The search, rescue and disaster relief efforts are continuing. Some 113,080 Chinese soldiers and armed police have been mobilized to help with rescue operations. Rescue teams from Russia, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Singapore, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong regions, have also joined in relief efforts.

The moment of earthquake struck:

Video1 Video2 Video3  Video4 Video5

The Rescue Efforts:

This video collection of earthquake rescue efforts  includes the resueers, the resuced, the leadership and more. 

Video1 video2 video3 video4 video5 video6 video7 video8 video9 video10 video11  video12 video13 video14 video15 video16  Video17  Video18 viedo19

    BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) — Several more countries have offered aid to China whose southwest Sichuan province was hit by a massive earthquake on Monday.

    Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz has decided to donate 50 million U.S. dollars in cash and 10 million dollars worth of relief materials.

    British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that his country will provide to China 1 million pounds (about 2 million U.S.) in aid.

    German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his government will provide a first instalment of 500,000 euros (800,000 U.S. dollars) in aid to the German Red Cross to help China in its relief work.

    Also, the Polish Foreign Ministry announced aid worth 100,000 U.S. dollars for China’s quake-stricken people.

    BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) — The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan Province rose to 22,069 nationwide as of 2 p.m. Friday, while 168,669 people were injured, according to the emergency response office of the State Council. 

    Altogether 21,577 people were killed in Sichuan, close to 2,000up from Thursday, and 159,006 injured.

    In its neighbouring regions, 364 were killed in Gansu, 109 in Shaanxi, 15 in Chongqing, 2 in Henan, one in Yunnan, and one in Hubei.

    Nearly 100 hours after Monday’s powerful quake, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday again urged continued efforts in quake rescue and relief work and giving top priority to the saving of people’s lives.

    A meeting held between the two Chinese top leaders said the previous relief work had been progressing orderly and effectively, which paved a smooth way for the following work.

    In face of the pressing time, uttermost efforts must be made if only there exists the slimmest hope of survivors, the meeting said.

There are four logos you can download to your heart to Wenchuan. Those logos are designed by unnamed artist(s) and posted at xinhuanet.com. You can get a copy with user instructions in Chinese by clicking this link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2008-05/14/content_8168484.htm .

Here is the instruction on how to download and use it for your MSN:

1. Right click the logo you like, and select “Save it as..”;

2. Save it in your C drive;

3. Upload to your MSN and change the display as you like.