Chinese authorities intimidated and unlawfully detained parents and relatives of children who died in the devastating Sichuan earthquake and harassed activists and lawyers trying to assist them, says a new Amnesty International report

Chinese churches and Christian agencies, as well as the government and army, have begun responding to the recent earthquake. The quake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, has devastated a region west of the provincial capital Chengdu.

The most powerful earthquake to hit China in 30 years, registered at a magnitude of 7.9, has killed at least 10,000 people in the south-western Sichuan province, with thousands more trapped and injured, says the BBC and news agencies.