Fears of New Quake Prompt Panic in Chinese Town

China tried to restore calm in its southwestern city of Chengdu on Tuesday after tens of thousands of people rushed into the streets alarmed by a television prediction of another powerful earthquake.

That, added to fresh aftershocks and forecasts of heavy rain, have compounded difficulties for military, government and private workers trying to ensure food and housing for millions of homeless.

Residents of Chengdu, Sichuan province's capital, rushed out for open space before midnight on Monday, alarmed by the prediction of another earthquake after May 12's 7.9 magnitude tremor, which may have killed 50,000 people.

A few hours later, a 5-magnitude aftershock rattled windows in Chengdu and likely caused more landslides on the roads leading to Pingwu, the epicentre of the aftershock, where destroyed roads have hampered relief efforts.

But on Tuesday, provincial television broadcast interviews with a series of seismologic bureau officials to explain the prediction and calm a jangled populace.

"Just because you can feel aftershocks, it doesn't mean they will hurt you. Of course, that doesn't mean you should stand in harm's way," said Han Weiding, researcher with the local seismological bureau.

Seismologists say that earthquakes are very hard to predict.

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

"I think the television coverage is overdoing it. They're scaring people," said a hotel worker surnamed Li, who spent the night in a public park.

Cars jammed roads leading out of Chengdu on Tuesday. There was no report of damage to Pingwu, but Xinhua news agency said on Monday that 200 rescue workers had been buried in landslides since May 12.

The road to Pingwu from the Sichuan plain was still closed to heavy trucks on Monday, complicating efforts to get food, water and tents to tens of thousands of homeless living in inaccessible areas.

The number of dead from the May 12 quake, the worst to hit China since 1976, is expected rise dramatically. The Communist Party chief in Sichuan said on Monday nearly 30,000 people were missing and a further 5,000 were believed buried under rubble.

Rescuers had reached the most remote areas of the province by Monday, but roads to some 50 affected towns and villages were still blocked by rocks and mudslides.

Whole towns have been flattened in mountainous areas north and west of Chengdu, and about 4.8 million people are homeless. Housing and feeding during the long-term rebuilding effort will prove a major challenge.

More Survivors

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 have 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.

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. And the central bank reiterated calls to set up branches and lend to companies in ruined areas.

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

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.