Thousands of people have been killed by Monday's powerful earthquake in just one affected region of central China, its government said, with the toll expected to keep rising as bodies are retrieved from schools, homes and factories.

The death toll quickly rose throughout the day. State-run news agency Xinhua said it had reached 8,533 in Sichuan Province by Monday night, and another 10,000 were believed to be injured.

It reported that authorities were yet to reach Wenchuan County -- which sits at the epicenter of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake with a population of about 112,000 -- because of damage to roads.

In Beichuan County, close to Wenchuan, the number of deaths was estimated at more than 3,000, with 80 percent of the buildings destroyed.

In addition, at least 48 people were killed in the northwest Gansu Province, Xinhua said.

Several hundred students were also feared to be buried in collapsed school buildings, the agency said.

China's Seismological Bureau said the earthquake had affected more than half the country's provinces and municipalities.

U.S. President George W. Bush released a statement saying his country "stands ready to help in any way possible."

"I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy," Bush said.

In Sichuan's Shifang city, the quake buried hundreds of people in two collapsed chemical plants, and more than 80 tons of ammonia leaked out, Xinhua said.

The local government evacuated 6,000 civilians from the area after homes and factories were also destroyed.

Gossip Girl Episode 16:All About My Brother




Taylor Momsen (Jenny Humphrey), Kristen Bell (Gossip Girl), Kelly Rutherford (Lily van der Woodsen), Matthew Settle (Rufus Humphrey), Penn Badgley (Dan Humphrey), Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf), Blake Lively (Serena van der Woodsen), Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass), Chace Crawford (Nate Archibald), Jessica Szohr (Vannessa), Amanda Setton (Penelope), Nicole Fiscella (Isabel Coates), Connor Paolo (Erik van der Woodsen), Dreama Walker (Hazel) , Yin Chang (Nelly Yuki), Jesse Swenson (Asher Hornsby), Michelle Trachtenberg (Georgina Sparks, Lydia Hearst (Amelia)

More than 20 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip as Israel unleashed military strikes and troops moved into the centre of the territory.

A journalist was also killed in the attacks.

It makes 16 April one of the deadliest days in Gaza for weeks.

But army leaders say the operations were routine and aimed against fighters suspected of launching rockets into southern Israel.

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from Jerusalem.