Many news agencies have reported much of the following news. The deaths are at least 760 as of Thursday, with more than 11,000 injured, toppled about 15,000 homes in and around Yushu county, and caused more than 100,000 people to flee the area. Chinese officials ordered rescue crews and supplies to Yushu on April 14th, but the area is hundreds of miles from an airport. "Soldiers have been dispatched to save the people buried in the collapsed houses," local official Huang Limin was quoted as saying by China
One official told journalists more than 85% of buildings in Jiegu town near the epicentre had collapsed. "The streets in Jiegu are thronged with panic - injured people, with many bleeding in the head," Zhuo Huaxia said. "Many students are buried under the debris due to building collapse at a vocational school. "I can see injured people everywhere. The biggest problem now is that we lack tents, we lack medical equipment, medicine and medical workers." Residents and monks used hand shovels and ropes to clear debris in hopes of reaching survivors. Thursday's rescue effort was hampered by unstable bridges and collapsed roadways, making it difficult for heavy equipment to get to hard-hit areas.
Many of the buildings in Yushu, a county with a largely Tibetan population of about 80,000, were thought to be made from wood. In Jiegu, the town closest to the epicenter, people were taken to a sporting field serving as a makeshift hospital because there are no hospitals in the town. The areas ethnic Tibetans, which are among China
