Southwest China quake update

BEIJING – China’s state media agency, Xinhua, reported that as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, 18 aftershocks, including two aftershocks of 6-magnitude, had occurred following the7.8-magnitude quake that jolted Wenchuan in southwest China's Sichuan Province yesterday afternoon.

The strong quake has killed 9,219 people in eight affected provinces and municipality including Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Yunnan,Shanxi, Guizhou and Hubei, the ministry of civil affairs said this morning.

The airport in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, was closed to flights for seven hours, reopening only for emergency and a few outbound flights. A major railway line to the northeast was ruptured, stranding about 10,000 passengers. Although most of the power had been restored by nightfall, phone and Internet service was spotty and some neighborhoods remained without power and water.

The quake jolted Wenchuan County of Sichuan at 2:28 p.m. Monday, which also leveled some 500,000 rooms in the affected areas.