By Lucy Hornby
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - A MAN(MAN.XE)was pulled alive from therubble of a power plant on Tuesday, eight days after China'sdeadly earthquake and just hours after predictions of anothertremor sent thousands running on to streets in terror.
Ma Yuanjiang was rescued in Wenchuan county, epicentre ofthe May 12 quake in mountainous Sichuan province, after 179hours buried in the rubble, state media said.
His rescue came as authorities tried to restore calm in theprovincial capital, Chengdu, after tens of thousands rushedinto the streets alarmed by a television prediction of anotherpowerful earthquake.
That, along with fresh aftershocks and forecast heavy rain,compounded the difficulties for military, government andprivate workers trying to ensure millions of homeless are fedand housed.
Anger was building among bereaved parents in Sichuan overthe way many school buildings had collapsed, burying wholeclassrooms full of children. In one town, in a rare publicprotest, hundreds demanded punishment for anyone guilty ofshoddy construction.
Chengdu residents rushed from their homes before midnighton Monday, alarmed by the prediction of another earthquakeafter the 7.9 magnitude tremor on May 12.
Hundreds of aftershocks have been felt over the past week,bringing down more buildings and causing landslides. A fewhours after the television report, a 5-magnitude tremor wasfelt.
But on Tuesday, provincial television screened interviewswith a series of seismological bureau officials to explain theprediction and calm a jangled populace.
"Just because you can feel aftershocks, it doesn't meanthey will hurt you. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldstand in harm's way," said Han Weiding, researcher with thelocal seismological bureau.
ANGER OVER SCHOOLS
The pandemonium showed how nerves have been stretched tobreaking point by the main quake and its aftershocks, now knownto have killed more than 34,000 and injured 245,000.
"I think the television coverage is overdoing it. They'rescaring people," said a hotel worker surnamed Li, who spent thenight in a public park.
The most lamented victims of the quake have been thethousands of children who died when school buildings collapsed.
In Juyuan town, hundreds of grieving parents demanded anannual memorial day for their children, punishment of officialsor builders responsible for shoddy schools, and compensation.
"How come all the houses didn't fall down, but the schooldid? And how come that happened in so many places?" demandedZhao, whose two daughters were crushed to death.
"We want a memorial day for the children, but we also wantcriminal prosecution of those responsible, no matter who theyare."
As China's ruling Communist Party seeks to maintain astaunch front of unity and stability after the quake, theincipient protests by parents could be troublesome, for many ofthem blame official graft and laxity, more than nature, for thedeaths.
HOPE REMAINS
The number of dead from the May 12 quake, the worst to hitChina since 1976, is expected to rise dramatically. TheCommunist Party chief in Sichuan said on Monday nearly 30,000were still missing and a further 5,000 were believed buriedunder rubble.
Ma's release raised hopes of further rescues. In 1990, aquake survivor was pulled out alive two weeks after beingburied under a collapsed hotel in the northern Philippines.
Rescuers found Ma on Saturday when they were digging a holetrying to reach a colleague, Yu Jinhua, Xinhua news agencysaid.
"Following an amputation operation, Yu was rescued at about6 p.m. on May 18," Xinhua said. "Rescuers then turned to Ma andsent sweetened water to him through a straw."
Rescuers had reached the most remote areas of the provinceby Monday, but roads to some 50 affected towns and villageswere still blocked by rocks and mudslides.
Whole towns have been flattened in mountainous areas northand west of Chengdu, and about 4.8 million people are homeless.Housing and feeding during the long-term rebuilding effort willprove a major challenge.
The quake warning also prompted panic in neighbouringChongqing municipality and Guizhou province.
"The panic was much worse in Guizhou, where reports of afrog and toad migration also spread public fear," Xinhua said.
In Tongzi county in Zunyi, a city in the north of Guizhouthat borders Sichuan and Chongqing, "some villagers said theysaw a massive migration of frogs and toads on Monday night,which they took as quake forecast", Xinhua said, quotingZunyi's Vice Mayor, Zeng Yongtao.
He said the city government was investigating.
(Writing by Nick Macfie; editing by Jeremy Laurence andRoger Crabb)
(For more stories on China's quake, follow the link toReuters AlertNet http://www.alertnet.org. For full coverage ofthe quake in China, click onwww.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/china))
