China now says this week's earthquake on the Tibetan Tibet Plateau has killed more than 600 people. More than 300 are still missing. More than 9,000 are injured. But as NPR's / reports from Shanghai, the focus is once again turning to the schools.
This 6.9 magnitude quake has devastated Yushu County in Qinghai Province on the Tibetan Plateau. Latest reports other 15,000 houses collapse, and 100,000 people are in need of resettlement. That's basically the entire population. Similar to the Sichuan earthquake two years ago, it appears that many schools have collapsed, killing students inside.
One Chinese paper quotes the headmaster of No. 3 primary school as estimating 200 students are still buried in the rubble. The local Monastery Thrangu has been destroyed. One report indicates that 200 people may have died there. The whole area has been shaken by more than seven hundred aftershocks. But a huge rescue effort is underway, with China's government pledging 13,000,000 dollars in / emergency funds.
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