中国官方媒体估计，中国西南部的四川省发生强烈地震后，仅在一个县就造成3千至5千人死亡。官方新华社说，同一地区，四川省的北川县可能还有至少一万人恐怕受伤。
报导还说，两所小学的校舍倒塌，将近900名学生被埋。报导没有提供任何细节，这些学生目前的命运还不清楚。
新华社报导说，在四川、甘肃、云南和重庆市，已经证实有107人死亡。
Chinese state media estimate that between three to five thousand people were killed in one single county today (Monday) when a powerful earthquake struck China’s southwestern province of Sichuan. The official Xinhua news agency says that at least 10-thousand people are also feared injured in that same area, Sichuan’s Beichuan county.
Reports also say that that nearly 900 students were buried when two primary schools collapsed but no details were provided and their fate is unknown.
Xinhua says there are 107 confirmed deaths in the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Yunnan and in the municipality of Chongqing.