Troops reach epicenter of Ya'an quake

An advance team of soldiers dispatched to Taiping Town in the epicenter of the Saturday's powerful earthquake in western Sichuan Province has reached the disaster area thanks to fast road repair.

Roads linking Longmen, Baosheng and Taiping were reopened yesterday evening after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake toppled many houses in outlying towns of Ya'an City and landslides have cut off the road.

Soldiers began searching for trapped survivors in collapsed houses while keeping an eye on rolling rocks from the mountainside set loose by aftershocks.

Telecommunication in the disaster area has not yet been restored this afternoon.

Special report: 7.0-magnitude earthquake jolts Ya'an