China has been sifting rubble for survivors of the deadly quake which hit the remote Qinghai region as thousands spent a freezing night in the open.
Rescuers used bare hands and picks to search debris as night fell, with little heavy lifting equipment in the mountainous, mainly Tibetan area.
Officials say 589 people died and 10,000 were injured when the quake struck Yushu county early on Wednesday.
But the death toll is expected to rise and further aftershocks are feared.
Relief flights carrying medical workers and supplies have been landing in Yushu airport but the road to the town of 70,000 people has been blocked by a landslide, the Associated Press news agency reports from Qinghai’s provincial capital, Xining.
