CHINA has ordered more helicopters and aid into earthquake-devastated areas as severed roads, aftershocks and the sheer magnitude of 15,000 or more dead defies increasingly desperate rescue efforts.

The Communist Party leadership ordered officials to "ensure social stability" as Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake in southwest Sichuan province spawned rumours of chemical spills, fears of dam bursts and torrid scenes of collective grief.

The official estimated death toll from the quake stands at nearly 14,463.

In all, about 10 million people have been directly affected by the quake, according to the Xinhua news agency.

But as rescuers pick through towns turned to rubble in Wenchuan and other counties nearest the earthquake's epicentre, the toll of missing - and probably dead - is likely to balloon.

"In one minute the city we know flew away. I never dreamt it could happen," said He Lixia, a kindergarten...

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