Jiegu, China (CNN) -- The death toll from the 6.9-magnitude quake that struck China earlier this week rose Thursday to 760, with more than 11,000 injured, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing Yushu Earthquake Relief Headquarters.
The relief headquarter said there were 234 people missing after Wednesday's earthquake, Xinhua reported. Of the injured, 1,174 suffered severe injuries, Xinhua reported, and 4,200 have been treated and released from the hospital.
Thursday's rescue effort was hampered by unstable bridges and collapsed roadways, making it difficult for heavy equipment to get to hard-hit areas like Jiegu, the town nearest the epicenter.
But rescuers were able to pull four survivors from a collapsed guest house in the area Thursday afternoon, state-run television reported. The rescue occurred after five hours of digging.
Authorities have said that more than 1,000 people have been saved in similar rescues.
The quake toppled about 15,000 homes in and around Yushu prefecture, and caused more than 100,000 people to flee the area, said Zou Ming, director general of Disaster Relief Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Officials have sent 20,000 cotton tents, 50,000 items of winter clothing and 50,000 quilts to victims.
State-run Xinhua news agency said President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have postponed overseas visits because of the disaster.
Hu won't be going to Venezuela and Peru. Wen postponed a scheduled visit to Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar on April 22 to 25.
The quake shook the region shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday (Tuesday 8 p.m. ET), when many residents were still at home and schools were just getting started for the day.
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Qinghai province in northwestern China, home to about five million people, is considered a gateway to Himalayan Tibet. More than half its people are Han Chinese, but the area is home to more than 40 different ethnic groupings, including Tibetans, Hui and Mongols.
Jiegu is in Yushu, a Tibetan region with a population of about 350,000 people -- about a third of whom live in Jiegu. Most are poor, making their living as farmers and herdsmen.
Can buildings be made earthquake-proof?
People: 44 ethnic groups, including Tibetans and Mongols
Average elevation: Over 3,000 meters above sea level
Geography: Qilian Mountains, the Qingnan Plateau and the source of the Yangtze, Mekong and Yellow Rivers
GDP: US$3.2 billion; average GDP per capita US$639
Industries: Agriculture, hydropower, oil and natural gasBut the region is also rich in natural gas and marked by copper, tin and coal mines. The region has a long history of earthquakes -- 53 with a magnitude of 5.0 or greater since 2001, according to China's Earthquake Administration.
One Jiegu resident told CNN that when his house began to shake, he grabbed his family and ran outside. Then came another quake, and his house collapsed. His family is now in tents, he said, but he had managed to buy water. He said they had seen no government assistance.
World's biggest earthquakes since 1900
People were living in fear, the man said, and some were headed up into the mountains to escape the threat of flooding should the reservoir -- also cracked in the quake -- break.
More than 85 percent of the mostly wooden and earth-walled houses in Jiegu had collapsed, a prefecture official told Xinhua. In Yushu, 90 percent of the houses collapsed, leaving many homeless, the Hong Kong Red Cross said. Temperatures in the area are forecast to be around the freezing mark at night, the Red Cross said, so "provision of emergency shelters for the victims remains a high priority."
The relief headquarter said there were 234 people missing after Wednesday's earthquake, Xinhua reported. Of the injured, 1,174 suffered severe injuries, Xinhua reported, and 4,200 have been treated and released from the hospital.
Thursday's rescue effort was hampered by unstable bridges and collapsed roadways, making it difficult for heavy equipment to get to hard-hit areas like Jiegu, the town nearest the epicenter.
But rescuers were able to pull four survivors from a collapsed guest house in the area Thursday afternoon, state-run television reported. The rescue occurred after five hours of digging.
The quake toppled about 15,000 homes in and around Yushu prefecture, and caused more than 100,000 people to flee the area, said Zou Ming, director general of Disaster Relief Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Officials have sent 20,000 cotton tents, 50,000 items of winter clothing and 50,000 quilts to victims.
State-run Xinhua news agency said President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have postponed overseas visits because of the disaster.
Hu won't be going to Venezuela and Peru. Wen postponed a scheduled visit to Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar on April 22 to 25.
The quake shook the region shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday (Tuesday 8 p.m. ET), when many residents were still at home and schools were just getting started for the day.
How to help: Impact Your World
Qinghai province in northwestern China, home to about five million people, is considered a gateway to Himalayan Tibet. More than half its people are Han Chinese, but the area is home to more than 40 different ethnic groupings, including Tibetans, Hui and Mongols.
Jiegu is in Yushu, a Tibetan region with a population of about 350,000 people -- about a third of whom live in Jiegu. Most are poor, making their living as farmers and herdsmen.
Can buildings be made earthquake-proof?
Qinghai province
Population: 5 millionPeople: 44 ethnic groups, including Tibetans and Mongols
Average elevation: Over 3,000 meters above sea level
Geography: Qilian Mountains, the Qingnan Plateau and the source of the Yangtze, Mekong and Yellow Rivers
GDP: US$3.2 billion; average GDP per capita US$639
Industries: Agriculture, hydropower, oil and natural gas
One Jiegu resident told CNN that when his house began to shake, he grabbed his family and ran outside. Then came another quake, and his house collapsed. His family is now in tents, he said, but he had managed to buy water. He said they had seen no government assistance.
World's biggest earthquakes since 1900
People were living in fear, the man said, and some were headed up into the mountains to escape the threat of flooding should the reservoir -- also cracked in the quake -- break.
More than 85 percent of the mostly wooden and earth-walled houses in Jiegu had collapsed, a prefecture official told Xinhua. In Yushu, 90 percent of the houses collapsed, leaving many homeless, the Hong Kong Red Cross said. Temperatures in the area are forecast to be around the freezing mark at night, the Red Cross said, so "provision of emergency shelters for the victims remains a high priority."
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