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May. 12 2008 9:03 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Officials say 10,000 people are dead after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck China on Monday, and the death toll is expected to rise. In Sichuan's Beichan county, about 80 per cent of the buildings have collapsed.

Ten thousand people are estimated to be injured, according to the Xinhua news agency.

The quake -- originally estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to be 7.8 -- struck at 2:28 p.m. local time, when office buildings, factories and schools were full. Nearly 900 Chinese students were feared buried after two schools collapsed in the municipality of Chongqing.