An aftershock on Monday night was measured at magnitude 5.2 by the US Geological Survey but no damage or injuries were reported.

People in the provincial capital of Chengdu got in their cars and drove away from the quake zone.

In Mianyang, closer to the quake zone, a hospital moved patients into the square outside the railway station.

Collective mourning

The fresh warning of aftershocks came hours after the world's most populous nation paused to mourn the dead in an observance never before accorded to anyone but a senior Chinese leader.

The silence was broken by the wail of air raid sirens and the blare of horns from cars, ships and trains to mark the beginning of China's official three day period of mourning for those killed in the earthquake.

Officials also announced that the Olympic torch relay would be suspended during the mourning period.

The government also ordered all flags be flown at half-staff and a halt to all public recreation activities.

The mourning period is the longest seen in China since the death of former leader Deng Xiaoping 11 years ago.

The country's rescue workers have been hailed as heroes for saving more than 60,000 people over the past week.

There is little indication how officials will  handle the five million displaced people [AFP]

As the mourning period began on Monday, state media reported that more than 200 relief workers had been buried by landslides over the past two days in the disaster zone.

 

The official Xinhua news agency gave no details of where the incidents happened, but the report highlighted the continued danger faced by teams racing against time to find survivors.

Their efforts have turned largely from rescue to recovery and clearing up the tonnes of debris as the battered Sichuan province begins the task of rebuilding.

Al Jazeera's Tony Cheng, reporting from the hard-hit town of Dujiangyan, said there was little indication from the authorities as to how they would handle the estimated five million left homeless.

He said entire cities had been destroyed, and there was now an urgent need for long-term planning as survivors look to the task of rebuilding shattered communities.

More survivors rescued