Death toll rises to 760 in China quake

7.1-magnitude quake hits China's Qinghai

Rescuers search for survivors at a collapsed building in Gyegu Town of Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai Province, April 15, 2010. Thousands of rescuers fought altitude sickness, chilly weather, strong winds and frequent aftershocks Thursday to dig through rubble and reach survivors of a strong earthquake that has left 760 dead in northwest China.

YUSHU, Qinghai, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in northwest China's Qinghai Province has risen to 760, rescuers said Friday.

The latest statistics show that 243 people were missing and 11,477 injured, 1,174 severely, said a spokesman with the rescue headquarters in in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in southern Qinghai.

A total of 4,200 injured people have been discharged from hospital, he added.

At least 7,093 rescuers were carrying out search and rescue operation in the Gyegu Town, the seat of the Yushu prefecture government, according to previous statements from the headquarters.

More rescuers were en route to the town that is close to the epicenter and home to 100,000 residents

The quake struck the Yushu County in the Yushu prefecture at 7:49 a.m. Wednesday with a depth of about 33 km. The epicenter was calculated to be 33.1 north and 96.7 east, the China Earthquake Networks Center reported.

A series of aftershocks have been reported so far, with the biggest being at 6.3 magnitude.

The epicenter is at the Rima Village in the Shanglaxiu Township, a pasturing and sparsely-populated area about 50 km west of Gyegu and about 800 km away from the provincial capital Xining.

Many people are still buried in the debris as more than 85 percent of houses in Gyegu, mostly made of mudbrick and wood, had collapsed.