"Our top priority is to save students, " Kang Zifu, an army officer in Jiegu, told Xinhua.

CNN: Chinese rescuers impeded by earthquake damage

"Civilians are scouring over the debris, looking for survivors, looking for whatever else they can find in rubble, " CNN's John Vause reported from Jiegu, a town of 100, 000 people.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The quake in the mountainous region had flattened homes -- many of which were made with wood and earth -- and other buildings in Jiegu and elsewhere in Yushu prefecture, a Tibetan region of Qinghai.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Almost 1, 000 people sat or lay on the ground outside a government sports building in Jiegu, some wrapping themselves with quilts they had taken from rubble, and others used their own tents, the Xinhua news agency reported.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS