China's cyberspace mourns earthquake deaths

BEIJING - Weibo account holders have changed their icons from color to black and white as a mark of respect to those who died Saturday after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Southwest China's Sichuan province.

According to China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), an earthquake hit Lushan county of Ya'an city in the province at 8:02 am.

As of 9:20 pm, at least 156 people were confirmed dead and more than 3,000 people injured.

The quake has raised concerns from the public across the country. Official information about the quake posted on the Internet has been forwarded hundreds of thousand times.

"We were having class at 8:02 am, and I could feel the building shake at the time. It was terrible, and I hope all the people in the affected areas are fine," an Internet user surnamed "Tao Min" wrote on her Weibo.

Internet users also posted icons of candles, red hearts and prayers to show their concern and respect for the people of Sichuan.

Huang Shengyi, a movie celebrity, wrote on her Sina Weibo, China's twitter-like microblogging service, for the public to pray for the people in the stricken areas.

She asked for vehicles on the route to Lushan county to make way for the rescuers and medical personnel. "Time is life, please leave the limited resources to the rescuers," she wrote.

"It's just 20 days before the 5th anniversary of the deadly earthquake that occurred on May 12, 2008 in Sichuan. I cannot forget that tragedy and feel so sorry about the increasing casualties from this quake. People in Sichuan, be strong, we are a family, we are together," a Weibo user named "MR-ZZ" wrote.

Some people and organizations voluntarily posted messages about earthquakes and survival skills on the Internet.

Meanwhile, to mourn the deaths, some TV programmes will be suspended tonight.

However, there is some false information and rumors on the Internet.

An Internet user, who posted false information saying that the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Lushan was just a foreshock and a 9.2-magnitude earthquake will hit Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan on April 22, has been detained by local police.

Sichuan police warned citizens not to give credence to such rumors and never spread groundless information.