Chinese leaders send condolences to quake-stricken north

Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Prime Minister Li Peng contacted provincial leaders in the northern Chinese province of Hebei on Saturday after an earthquake there killed at least 35 people earlier in the day, Xinhua news agency reported.

It said the Chinese leaders expressed "great concern" over the quake, and called on provincial leaders "to convey their solicitude to the relatives of those who died as a result of the quake and local people in affected areas" .

A total of 57 aftershocks were felt in Shangyi and Zhangbei counties in Hebei Province after the quake, the agency reported, quoting the State Seismological Bureau.

The strongest aftershock measured 4.6 on the Richter Scale, with others measuring between two and three.

Seismologists predict that more aftershocks may occur in the two counties, which cover a total area of some 500 square kilometres, in the next few days, the agency said.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.