China quake toll reaches 5,000

Chinese state media say 3,000 to 5,000 people have died in one county in Sichuan province alone from the massive earthquake that hit the region Monday morning. The toll in the 7.8 quake is expected to go up as reports continue to come in from remote provinces.

The official Xinhua News Agency says another 10,000 people were believed hurt in Beichuan county in Monday's quake.

The epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake was in Sichuan, striking 57 miles (92 kilometre northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT).

Quake topples "80 pct of buildings"

Aout 80 per cent of the buildings in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County in China's southwestern Sichuan province collapsed when an earthquake hit the area on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua cited the provincial disaster relief headquarters as estimating that about 3,000 to 5,000 people were feared dead and 10,000 injured in that county alone.

The county lies northeast of the provincial capital of Chengdu.

Power supply hit

A state news agency says the powerful earthquake that struck China's southwest has knocked out power plants.

The Xinhua News Agency says five power plants were knocked off the grid and six transformer substations were shut down in Sichuan province, where the quake was centered on Monday.

Three more power plants and two transformer substations have been knocked out in Shaanxi province to the north of Sichuan, Xinhua said, citing State Grid Corp, a major government-owned utility.

There is no indication how large an area is without power after the earthquake.

State Grid Corp said aftershocks make it difficult to contact the affected areas for a detailed damage report, Xinhua says.