Despite rescuers’ best efforts, thousands of people remain trapped in a remote part of western China.  Currently the rescue workers are battling very strong winds and altitude sickness while trying to reach Jiegu, in Qinghai province.

So far the death toll has reached up to 617 with 9,000 people injured. Local reports show that 15,000 houses have already collapsed and 100,000 people need to be relocated. Beijing mobilized a huge rescue force, which included 5,000 troops, fire fighters, and a medical team whose conveys stretched almost the lengths of the 620 mile road that separates the earthquake zone from Xining, the provincial capital.

The survivors of the earthquake are currently living in fear of an aftershock. Many people are living outside with only blankets and tents to keep out the very fierce winds that are whipping across the Tibetan Plateau. This area lies at an altitude of 13,000 feet, where oxygen levels are one third that found at sea level.

The director of Jinpa which is a charity that supports education and health projects in Yushu, Tashi Tsering, said that it is all very ghastly. The whole town came down. A lot of the homes were made of wood and mud so they are totally collapsed to the ground. He is sure that there are still some people alive underneath the material but mot many.

Right now the main goal is to bolster the inadequate local medical facilities in this poor area. However, doctors who came to the region to help said that, without medicine, which is still on its way to the area, they have little choice but to amputate.