Sichuan , China — The death toll of the earthquake that hit China in southwestern Sichuan has topped 15,000 as is expected to rise as high as 50,000 people. About another 65,000 people were also injured in the earth quake. That number is also expected to rise. About 3.5 million homes were damaged in the quake. Tens of thousands are still believed to be buried beneath crumbled building and thousands more are missing. Hampering rescue efforts has been bad weather and impassable roads.

Towns close to the epicenter have reported to have been nearly leveled. As more relief and aid workers get closure to the hardest hit areas near the epicenter the death toll is expected to rise even further.

Although this is one of the worst earthquakes to hit China in nearly 50 years, it is not the worst. The worst earthquake to hit China occurred in 1976 in the city of Tangshan, near Beijing, killing nearly 250,000 people. Aftershocks rating 5.8 on the richter scale were recently reported.

Unlike other natural disasters that have recently affected China, the government quickly swung into action sending about 100,000 relief workers and soldiers to the earthquake devastated area.

The Chinese army has begun to air drop relief supplies in many of the affected areas. Other relief efforts have been hampered by bad weather.