Major aftershock warning sparks China panic

In Xiushui, one of scores of mountain villages in Sichuan province that were cut off for days in the days immediately after the quake, residents were grateful they now had water, food and other supplies. But they complained the response was slow and blamed local officials whom they described as corrupt and indifferent — a common complaint in rural China that has fueled sporadic protests in the past decade.

"During the first three days after the quake, the local government gave us nothing. No water or food," said Yu Jun, a 44-year-old farmer living in a roadside tent. "In the first few days, we had to get our cooking water from an irrigation ditch. You could see little bugs wiggling around in the water. You would get sick if you drank it."

There were other signs of edginess.

In a gymnasium in Mianyang, east of Xiushui, refugees panicked Sunday when health workers arrived wearing masks, setting off fears of an epidemic. Police were sent in to keep tensions from boiling over.

And in Tiananmen Square, the focus of pro-democracy rallies in 1989 that were crushed by the military, a mourning ceremony erupted into a nationalistic rally as about 1,000 people punched the air with their fists and shouted: "Long live China!" The crowd dispersed after about one hour when police told them to move on.

In a sign the government is sensitive to public perceptions of its response to the disaster, the ruling Communist Party's discipline committee said it had reprimanded three local officials in the quake zone for dereliction of duty, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The party had instructed its officials to stand "at the front line" of the disaster and these three had failed to do so, Xinhua said.

Teams of rescuers still searched debris with their hands and shovels in the hope of finding anyone alive, but their successes were few. Two women were rescued Monday morning from a collapsed building at a mine site, Xinhua reported.

Signaling it wants help to deal with millions of homeless and injured survivors, China said it would accept foreign medical teams and made an international appeal for tents to provide shelter for the coming rainy season.

More than 200 relief workers were buried in the past three days by mudslides while working to repair roads in Sichuan, Xinhua reported. An official confirmed there had been mudslides causing some deaths but said casualties were still being counted.

For some, there was no solace in Monday's ceremonies.

"I can't feel anything. I have no words," said Hu Yongcui, who did not pause in her search for her missing 17-year-old daughter. "I just want to go home. I just want to find my daughter."

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