Survivors of quake cope with thousands of aftershocks

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-20 21:46

"We had to answer hundreds of phone inquiries from 10 p.m. on Monday to midnight," said Chen Benjin, head of the Guizhou Provincial Seismological Bureau. "Everyone asked if the aftershock was to affect Guizhou."

He said the geological structure in Guizhou was stable and devastating earthquakes were unlikely in the region. "We monitored four strong aftershocks over 6.0-magnitude in Wenchuan in the past week, none of which caused much damage in Guizhou."

The frog migration and that springs turned muddy were a result of last Monday's earthquake instead of signs for future quakes, said Cheng Fangzheng, research fellow with the Sichuan seismological bureau.

Still, thousands of people in the Honghuagang District of downtown Zunyi spent the night in squares and open spaces. RESCUE GOES ON

Several thousand aftershocks have jolted Wenchuan since last Monday's devastating quake. But rescuers are still searching all-out for survivors.

The latest person to be rescued, Ma Yuanjiang, was saved just before 1 a.m. on Tuesday in Wenchuan. He had been trapped for nearly 179 hours.

His internal organs were in good condition, but his lower left arm had to be amputated, said doctors of the Chongqing Xinqiao Hospital, which is  affiliated with the No. Three University of Medical Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Ma was rushed to the hospital at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Rescuers had reached all 1,044 quake-hit villages, which are under 134 townships in southwestern Sichuan Province, as of Tuesday evening, according to a military source.

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