>>>沪江汶川地震专题   

BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers are racing against time to reach and search for survivors a day after the strongest quake to hit China in more than three decades jolted the southwestern province of Sichuan.

新华社北京讯 —— 四川省遭遇中国三十年来最严重一次地震。地震发生一天后，救援者仍然在与时间作战，搜救地震幸存者。

The country was in mourning as the death toll spiraled toward 12,000. The national English-language newspaper, China Daily, silhouetted the front page in black to mourn the victims.

地震已造成12000人死亡，举国哀恸。国家英文报纸China Daily首页全黑，悼念死者。

The headline reads: "The Day the Earth Moved."

头条定为：“地震这一天”。

Premier Wen Jiabao, who flew to Sichuan on Monday evening, urged the public to have "composure, confidence and courage" in the face of the catastrophe.

温家宝总理周一晚上飞抵四川，号召民众“沉着、自信、勇敢”应对灾难。

As of 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, the death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake had climbed to 11,921, according to the ad hoc headquarters of the disaster relief headed by Premier Wen. Of the dead, 11,608 were in Sichuan.     

时至周二下午两点，这次地震死亡人数已达11921人。其中，11608人死于四川。

ARDUOUS ACCESS TO EPICENTER 进入震中困难重重 

Wenchuan County, the epicenter, has reported 57 confirmed deaths and about 60,000 residents have yet to be reached.

震中汶川县，已报道确认已有57人死亡。六万居民尚无法联络。

"I am so worried! So worried!" He Biao, a government official with the Aba Autonomous Prefecture of Tibetan and Qiang nationalities, Sichuan Province, exclaimed to Xinhua over the phone. Wenchuan forms part of the prefecture.

“我太担心了，太担心了！”阿坝州政府包共识何彪副主任与新华社通电话时大声说道。汶川是阿坝州的一部分。

Wenchuan and neighboring areas are situated in the steep hills north of Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu. Attempts to reach the epicenter "via land, air and water were all thwarted" by a combination of transport and communications problems and rain, said an official with the Sichuan provincial relief headquarters.

汶川及其周边地区坐落于四川省会成都北面陡峭的群山里。由于路面受阻、通信中断、连日降雨，无论是空、陆、水都难以进入震后的汶川。

Premier Wen ordered the removal of rocks and mud slides that are blocking roads to the epicenter by midnight on Tuesday. "People are trapped in debris; we must use every second," he told an emergency meeting at 7:00 a.m.

温家宝总理命令周二午夜前必须清除路障。“人民困在废墟里，我们必须节省每一秒时间。”他在早晨7点的紧急会议中指示。

As of 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, 16,760 soldiers had joined in the disaster relief efforts. Another 34,000 members of the Jinan and Chengdu military area commands were advancing toward the disaster-stricken regions by plane, train, road -- and even on foot.

周二早上六点半，16760名官兵加入救灾一线。济南成都军区另有34000名官兵乘飞机、火车、汽车甚至步行前往灾区。

The air force has been ordered to parachute relief troops into Wenchuan if rainy weather conditions continue to block helicopter landings.

空军接到命令，一旦天气因素阻挠飞机降落，救援部队将伞降汶川。

The General Staff Department (GSD) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) issued the order early on Tuesday in an effort to speed up the deployment of rescuers.

为加速救援工作，中国人民解放军总参谋部在周二清晨下达伞降命令。

The GSD ordered at 9 a.m. that 10,000 relief troops stationed in the eastern province of Shandong be transported by air instead of rail to Sichuan to save time. Also, civilian aircraft have been mobilized to help with transportation.

上午九点，总参谋部号令10000名救援部队会师山东，飞往四川以节约时间。同时，民航飞机也被征召参与救援。

By Tuesday noon, some 1,300 rescue and relief troops, including doctors and soldiers, had arrived at Wenchuan County for the first time after the quake struck and started operations in rain.    

周二中午，1300名官兵和医生首次进入震中汶川，在雨中展开救援工作。 

FRANTIC SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS 疯狂搜救幸存者 

In Beichuan County, about 160 kilometers northeast of the epicenter of Wenchuan County, rescuers were searching frantically for survivors in the rubble. At least 1,000 students and teachers were buried when a school in the county collapsed following the quake.

距离震中汶川160公里的北川县，救援者仍在疯狂搜救瓦砾堆中的幸存者。一所学校在地震中倒塌，至少1000名师生被埋在废墟里。

The main building of the Beichuan Middle School, a seven-story structure, had been reduced to a pile of rubble about 2 meters high.

原本七层的北川中学主教学楼，已经成为了仅高两米的废墟堆。

About 2,000 students, parents and villagers waited on campus overnight as nearly 1,000 armed police searched for survivors in the ruins. Some covered themselves with quilts as it began to rain early on Tuesday.

一整夜，2000名学生、家长和当地村民守候在校园里。近1000名武警战士整夜在废墟里搜救幸存者。下雨了，一些人把被子披在身上，仍然留守在学校里。

Many parents burst into tears when a rescuer carried a teen-age girl out of the ruins. She had lost her legs.

当一名救援者从废墟里抱出一个女孩时，在场许多父母不禁潸然泪下。女孩已失去双腿。

Chen Linglin huddled with her 7th-grade classmates, waiting for help. "We need food and water more than anything else," she said.

一年级学生陈灵林（音）和她的同学们抱成一团等候救援。“我们急需水和食物。”

The quake, the worst to hit China since the Tangshan quake of 1976, also toppled schools and buildings elsewhere in Sichuan and the neighboring Chongqing Municipality, trapping thousands. 

1976年唐山大地震之后，中国首次遭受如此重创。四川、重庆等地多所学校在地震中垮塌，困住师生数千。

In Anchang Township, Anxian County, about 20 km from Beichuan, power, water and gas supplies were disrupted and food and drinking water have become scarce. Most stores in town have run out of supplies and many residents are living on leftovers from two days ago.

距北川20公里的安县安昌乡水电气供给中断，食物饮水缺乏。当地大部分商店供给耗尽，许多居民已经开始靠两天前的剩余食物维生。

A spokesman for the China Seismological Bureau (CSB) said here Tuesday that rescuers have saved 58 people trapped under collapsed buildings and rubbles so far. Rescue teams sent by the CSB, Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality have rescued 21 people,22 people and 15 people respectively, said Zhang Hongwei at a press conference.

中国地震局发言人张宏卫称，周二当天，救援队已从废墟中救出58人。

"The rescue work remains very difficult." he said.

“救援工作仍然困难重重。”他说道。

>>>沪江汶川地震专题