6.9 earthquake hit China causing at least 300 deaths and 8000 injured – provisional toll

A great earthquake struck China on Wednesday, measuring 6.9 degrees on a Richter scale causing the death of at least 300 people and the injury of about 8000, state televisions announce, quoted by AFP. Many villages in North West China are completely isolated and rescue teams have difficulty reaching them. The toll is still provisional.

Wounded people are everywhere on the streets, many with head injuries, a local official declared, quoted by the XinHua agency. The earthquake took place in the Qinghai region, nearby Tibet. New China agency reads that the earthquake was registered at 7.49am Romanian time.

UPDATE: Rescue teams declared that several children are caught under debris in schools, New China reads. More than 85% of the households in the region crashed.