BEIJING: Four children died in a suburb of southwest China''s Chongqing municipality on Monday when an earthquake toppled two primary schools, local news agency said. More than 100 children were injured, it added, quoting the local government A powerful, magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck mountainous central China on Monday, damaging buildings and roads and causing injuries, the local government reported. The quake was felt as far away as Thailand,Vietnam and Pakistan. Thousands of people evacuated buildings in Beijing, some 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the epicenter. The quake struck 57 miles (92 kilometers) northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. It said the7.8-magnitude quake was centered about 6 miles (10 kilometers) below the surface. Two aftershocks of measuring 6.0 and 5.4 struck shortly afterwardin the same part of eastern Sichuan, according to the USGS. A statement issued by the local government in Aba prefecture, where the epicenter was located, said buildings had cracked andc ollapsed, and mountain roads were damaged. It said there had been reports of injuries, but gave no details on numbers or severity. Chinese President Hu Jintao ordered that the injured be quickly treated, saying lives were of the utmost importance, agency reported. Premier Wen Jiabao was headed to the epicenter, it said. In the Chinese capital Beijing, about 930 miles (1,500kilometers) away, buildings swayed for more than two minutes but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.