As a proportion of the population, more people were killed during the An Lushan rebellion in eighth-century China, for example, or by the Thirty Years War in 17th-century central Europe.

ECONOMIST: The second world war

"The public can of course continue to express scepticism, but we cannot because give up helping compatriots in earthquake-stricken areas of Lushan because of distrust of an organisation, " Beijing Youth Daily commentator Shu Shengxiang adds.

BBC: China media: Quake response

The earthquake Saturday morning triggered landslides that cut off roads and disrupted phone and power connections in mountainous Lushan county, in Sichuan's Ya'an city area, which is further south on the same fault line where a devastating quake wreaked widespread damage across the region five years ago.

NPR: China Rushes Relief After Sichuan Quake Kills 180