China is deploying about 50,000 soldiers to Sichuan province after the nation's strongest earthquake in 58 years killed almost 10,000 people.

``The death toll and damage are more serious than we expected and we need more people here to help,'' Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said today at disaster relief headquarters in the town of Dujiangyan near the epicenter, in comments broadcast on state television.

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the central city of Chengdu, home to 11 million people and the capital of Sichuan province. There's no contact from the city of Wenchuan, which has a population of 118,000 and is 14 kilometers from the epicenter, state-run Xinhua News Agency said.

The quake, at 10 kilometers below the surface, was shallow, ``which means it released more destructive energy,'' Zhang Guomin, a researcher at the China Seismology Bureau, told Xinhua. ``We have to guard against mudslides and collapsing buildings.''

The military is airlifting 27,000 personnel, including 3,000 members of the special forces, to join about 20,000 soldiers already in the disaster area, state TV reported. Rain and blocked roads hampered troop movements. China allocated 200 million yuan ($28.6 million) for disaster relief, Xinhua said.

Emergency Meeting

Prime Minister Wen, who flew to the disaster zone yesterday, ordered rescue workers to open roads to Wenchuan and other areas by midnight today, Xinhua said. He spoke after an emergency meeting at 7 a.m.

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