CHENGDU  -- Earthquake death toll in Sichuan Province alone has exceeded 19,500 by 4 pm Thursday, Vice Governor of Sichuan Li Chengyun said in Chengdu at a press conference.

The figure rose by more than 5,000 from Wednesday's 14,463. With dozens of deaths in neighbouring provinces, the overall toll has exceeded 20,000.

More than 72 hours after the earthquake rattled the area, the situation is getting urgent and grim to save the 25,788 people buried under the debris. Another 1405 people are still missing.

The strongest earthquake to hit China in more than three decades jolted Wenchuan county in Sichuan province at 2:28 pm yesterday, killing more than 8,500. Casualties are expected to rise fast.

The tremor measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, with the epicenter located at 31.0 degrees north latitude and 103.4 degrees east longitude, the State Seismological Bureau (SSB) said.

The quake was centered 10 km below the surface; and more than 300 aftershocks were reported.

A quake of the same magnitude hit Tangshan, Hebei, on July 28, 1976, killing more than 240,000.