CHONGQING, China (AP):

A massive earthquake toppled buildings across a wide area of central China yesterday, killing nearly 10,000 people, trapping hundreds of students under the rubble of schools and causing a toxic chemical leak in one of the worst quakes in decades.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated a region of small cities and towns set amid steep hills northeast of Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that 8,533 people died in Sichuan alone and hundreds of others in surrounding areas.

Up to press time last night, 10 million persons were in darkness because of downed power systems.

Hundreds buried

In Beichuan county, just east of the epicentre, 80 per cent of the buildings had collapsed and some 10,000 people were injured aside from 3,000 to 5,000 dead, Xinhua said. Several state media said a chemical plant in Shifang city cratered, burying hundreds of people and spilling more than 80 tonnes of toxic liquid ammonia from the site.

In Juyuan town in Dujiangyan city, just south of the epicentre, the middle school collapsed, burying the students and immediately killing four ninth-graders, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Xinhua said its reporters in Juyuan town saw buried teenagers struggling to break free from the rubble "while others were crying out for help".

The quake struck shortly before 2:30 p.m. when classrooms and office towers were full and was centred on Wenchuan county 57 miles (92 kilometres) northwest of Chengdu. The temblor emptied office buildings across the country in Beijing and was felt as far away as Vietnam and Thailand.