Dramatic Video and News Coverage of China Sichuanar Earthquake. Silent Weapons. The moment quake struck Central China. Amazing video of terror in the faces of the victims of the quake 12,000 Dead After Magnitude 7.9 Earthquake Rocks Central China Tuesday, May 13, 2008 CHENGDU, China — A powerful earthquake toppled buildings, schools and chemical plants Monday in central China, killing about 12,000 people and trapping untold numbers in mounds of concrete, steel and earth in the country's worst quake in three decades. The 7.9-magnitude quake devastated a region of small cities and towns set amid steep hills north of Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu. Striking in midafternoon, it emptied office buildings across the country in Beijing and could be felt as far away as Vietnam. About 1,300 rescue workers and troops arrived Tuesday at the quake's epicenter, which had been cut off since the earthquake struck. The number of casualties there is not yet known. Rain has compounded the...