2008 May 12 06:28:00 UTC
Monday, May 12, 2008 at 02:28:00 PM at epicenter
The earthquake broke underground pipes, causing water and mud to flow across the streets in the city of Chengdu
China earthquake: 'Tens of thousands' dead (click here)
By Richard Spencer in Chengdu and Malcolm Moore
Last Updated: 9:38PM BST 12/05/2008
Tens of thousands of people are feared dead after the biggest earthquake in three decades struck China.
The official death toll has been put at more than 8,500, but rescue workers and the Chinese army have not yet reached the worst affected areas.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province this afternoon. The epicentre was 50 miles north of Chengdu, a city of 11 million people, but tremors were felt more than 1,000 miles away in Bangkok and Hanoi.
At least six primary and middle schools were destroyed in the disaster, and 900 pupils were buried under rubble when the three-storey Jiangyan Middle School in Dujiangyan collapsed....
