Measuring 6.7 on the open-ended Richter scale, the quake sent terrified residents running into the streets on Wednesday evening in Algiers and towns to the east, along the populous Mediterranean coastal strip. The tremor, felt as far away as Spain, was Algeria's worst in more than 20 years.

"Buildings have collapsed. Entire families are underneath," Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said.

Hospitals in the capital and hardest-hit cities were finding it almost impossible to cope, medical staff said. In the worst affected province, Boumerdes, bodies were piled up outside hospitals and patients were treated in the open air.

Authorities urged doctors and paramedics to go to hospitals to help and citizens to donate blood.

State media said there were at least 770 dead and over 5,600 injured. In Algiers at least 57 buildings were destroyed, among them the Training Centre for the National Sporting Elite.

"It's very difficult. The quake hit just everywhere. We have so many injuries,'' said a rescue worker.

One of the worst affected places was Rouiba, a relatively prosperous city some 30 kilometres from the eastern edge of Algiers, where one building after another was reduced to rubble.

"I have never seen such a disaster in my life. Everything has collapsed,'' said Yazid Khelfaoui, whose mother had been killed. The rubble of his apartment block was all around him.

The earth shook at 7:44 pm (1844 GMT), when many families were gathered at home for dinner.

Algerian television showed dozens of bodies lined up under sheets and blankets, some clearly children. "There were so many wounded, we couldn't count them,'' one harassed doctor said.

In the coastal city of Boumerdes, media spoke of people jumping from windows to try to save themselves. State television said a small hospital had collapsed there.

"It's a tragic moment,'' Prime Minister Ouyahia told state radio. "It's a misfortune that hits the whole of Algeria."

State media broke into broadcasts to urge people to go outdoors and stay away from buildings.

Some 200 aftershocks hit northern Algeria in the first two hours and authorities warned many more would follow.

At Algiers' principal Mustapha hospital, families gathered to inquire about loved ones. Police forced back a growing crowd.

"I want to see my brother. I want to know if he is dead or still alive. Please let me inside,'' said Ahmed, 40, who had come to Algiers from Rouiba. He wept as he spoke.

Algerian television showed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, visibly moved, holding the hands of a middle-aged woman in hospital whose face and lips were shaking uncontrollably.

At the national sports center, a three-storey building in its own grounds, at least four people were killed -- a Romanian gymnastics coach, an Algerian national swimming coach, a Algerian national weightlifter and a cook.

Road builders used their equipment to hunt for survivors. "We left our job to come and help. We're human after all,'' said one, Sid Alki.

France dispatched 120 rescuers with sniffer dogs and emergency equipment to its former colony.

Most of Algeria's 32 million people live in the north, away from the desert. Algiers alone is home to at least 2.6 million people.

The US Geological Survey said the epicenter had been 70 kilometers east of Algiers. It said the quake was the biggest to hit Algeria since 1980, when a tremor measuring 7.7 killed at least 4,500 people in the west.

In 1994, about 150,000 were made homeless by an earthquake in northwestern Algeria that killed over 170 people.

Officials and oil sources said oil exports and key facilities were unaffected by the quake.

China's President sends condolences over Algerian earthquake

Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a condolence message on Thursday to his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika, expressing his sympathy with Algerians hit by a powerful earthquake in the northern part of the country on Wednesday.

In the message, Hu extended deep sorrow to families of all the victims in the earthquake and sent condolences to President Bouteflika, the Algerian government and people.

He expressed belief that under the leadership of President Bouteflika, the Algerian government and people would overcome the difficulties caused by the disaster and rebuild their homeland with united efforts.

The Chinese president also ordered the Chinese embassy in Algeria to confirm the Chinese casualties in the earthquake and cooperate closely with the Algerian government in rescuing the injured and dealing with relevant affairs.

(China Daily and Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2003)