China quake affects eight power plants, grid stable

BEIJING, May 13 (Reuters) - Eight power plants were shut down or disconnected from the grid in southwestern China, cutting electricity supplies after the area was hit by a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake, the official Xinhua agency reported.

Eight transformer sub-stations were also shut down across Sichuan and neighbouring Shaanxi province, it quoted the State Grid as saying, but the main network was stable and power supply gradually recovering.

The mountainous area at the epicentre of China's worst quake in more than three decades is far from the country's manufacturing hubs -- which face recurrent power supply problems -- so there is little risk of a wider impact on national electricity flow.

Local branches in the stricken areas are gearing up to repair damaged equipment, although damaged communication networks and a series of aftershocks made it difficult to contact the sites for detailed damage reports, Xinhua added.

The death toll from the quake that rippled out from Sichuan province across much of China on Monday afternoon was already nearly 10,000 and appeared sure to climb as troops struggled on foot to reach the worst-hit area. (Reporting by Emma Graham-Harrison; editing by Ken Wills)