China has been sifting¹ rubble² for survivors³ of the deadly quake which hit the remote Qinghai region as thousands spent a freezing night in the open.

中国青海省昨日发生破坏性大地震，成千上万的灾民在露天度过了一个寒冷的夜晚，当地政府正在废墟之中全力抢救生还者。

Rescuers so far have little equipment to help them

Rescuers used bare hands and picks（凿） to search debris（碎片，残骸） as night fell, with little heavy lifting equipment in the mountainous, mainly Tibetan area.

Officials say 589 people died and 10,000 were injured when the quake struck Yushu county early on Wednesday.

But the death toll⁴ is expected to rise and further aftershocks are feared.

Relief（减轻，救济） flights carrying medical workers and supplies have been landing in Yushu airport but the road to the town of 70,000 people has been blocked by a landslide⁵, the Associated Press news agency reports from Qinghai's provincial⁶ capital, Xining.

The BBC's Chris Hogg, in Qinghai and travelling by road to the disaster area, passed long columns of military vehicles carrying diggers and other heavy lifting equipment as dawn was breaking on Thursday.

The columns, which included ambulances, were about eight or nine hours from the disaster zone, he said.

In the township（镇区，小镇） of Jiegu, 85% of buildings were destroyed, officials say, and state TV has been showing street after street reduced to rubble.

Several schools collapsed⁷ and at least 56 students are known to have died, 22 of them in a school in Yushu.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has called for an all-out effort to save as many people as possible and some 5,000 rescuers, including 700 soldiers, have been sent to the disaster area.

The civil affairs（民政事务） ministry⁸ said it was to send 5,000 tents, 50,000 coats and 50,000 quilts（被褥，棉被） as local officials in Yushu reported a lack of tents, medicines and medical equipment.

China has received messages of sympathy and offers of aid from foreign states including Japan, Russia and France.