A major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m.(Beijing time) on May 12. With a population of 111,800, Wenchuan lies in the southeast part of the Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, 146 kilometers northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan. Wenchuan is home to the Wolong Nature Reserve, China's leading research and breeding base for endangered giant pandas.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has arrived at Dujiangyan, a city northwest of the provincial capital Chengdu, and started to oversee disaster relief work. The whole country has now been mobilized for disater relief. (combined sources)
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