Fears of new quake prompt panic in Chinese town

By Lucy Hornby

CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of panicked residents rushed into the streets of Chengdu in southwest China early on Tuesday, alarmed by a television report that predicted another powerful earthquake would hit the region.

The pandemonium showed how nerves have been stretched to breaking point by the May 12 earthquake and aftershocks which have killed more than 34,000 people and injured 245,000.

Cars jammed roads leading out of Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu and people carrying bedding headed for open ground after hearing that another earthquake of 8-magnitude would shake the ravaged the province overnight.

"They quoted a government department, so everyone's heading for clear space. I'd be careful if I were you," called a young man surnamed Huang.

Xinhua news agency reported a magnitude 5.0 aftershock hit Pingwu County early on Tuesday, causing buildings to creak in Chengdu, about 150 km from the tremor's epicenter.

The number of dead from the 7.9 magnitude quake, the worst to hit China since 1976, could rise dramatically as the Communist Party chief in Sichuan said nearly 30,000 were missing. A further 5,000 are believed still buried under rubble.

Sirens wailed across China, from tent cities in Sichuan province to Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and millions of Chinese stood for three minutes on Monday to mourn the dead exactly a week after the quake struck.

Most of the victims were in mountainous areas north and west of Chengdu. The government put direct economic losses in Sichuan alone at about 67 billion yuan ($9.6 billion).

A government official said rescuers had reached the remotest areas of the province by Monday, but roads to some 50 affected towns and villages were still blocked by rocks and mudslides.

More than 200 relief workers in five vehicles were buried by mudflows over the weekend while trying to leave quake-affected areas, Xinhua said, citing the transport ministry. It was not immediately clear if they had survived.

There was a burst of elation in ruined Beichuan when a 61-year-old woman was found alive under a mass of concrete. A man trapped in a manganese mine in Qingchuan was also pulled out alive on Monday -- just before the pit collapsed, Xinhua said.

But rescuers mostly had the gruesome job of recovering decomposing bodies. Dozens of bodies were pulled from the rubble in Beichuan on Monday, and rescuers scattered lime and splashed disinfectant to prevent disease.

Premier Wen Jiabao ordered further efforts to prevent the spread of disease.

On Monday, the Foreign Ministry appealed to the international community to provide more tents for about 4.8 million people who lost their homes in the quake.

So far, 10.8 billion yuan ($1.55 billion) has been received from donors at home and abroad, China said.