The quake struck during rush hour

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A powerful earthquake has rocked San Francisco killing nine people and injuring hundreds.

The number of dead is expected to rise significantly. The two tier Bay Bridge and Nimintz freeway both partially collapsed and rescuers are waiting to recover bodies from cars crushed by the quake.

The epicentre of the quake, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale, is thought to have been Loma Prieta, 10 miles north of Santa Cruz on the San Andreas fault.

A massive rescue effort is now underway in what experts believe is the second biggest earthquake ever to hit the United States.

Officials have reported "unbelievable damage to infrastructure" with collapsed bridges and freeways, fires, shattered buildings, gaping cracks in roads and land slides.

Tremors from the quake, which lasted 15 seconds, were reported 400 miles away in Los Angeles and 200 miles away in Reno, Nevada.

The quake struck at 1704 local time (18 October, 0004 GMT), as people were making their way home after work. Traffic was brought to a standstill and many homes left without power.

Fans waiting to see the baseball World Series match at Candlestick Park were also caught up in the quake. Supporters ran onto the pitch as the whole stadium swayed.

Hospitals have been flooded with injured victims. Ambulance worker Kimberly Kelly said: "We're getting mainly shock, cuts and shortness of breath."

Officials are said to be shocked at the amount of damage as freeways and buildings are supposed to be earthquake-proof.

The Governor of California, George Deukmajian, said: "I had been under the impression that the highways had been constructed to deal with any severe earthquake and I am very surprised to see what has happened to some of those."

"I think we are going to have some kind of inquiry to determine why they did not survive a quake of the severity of this one."  

A huge clock registered the first power to be transferred to the National Grid

A crowd of several thousand people gathered to watch the opening ceremony, which was also attended by scientists and statesmen from almost 40 different countries.

The Lord Privy Seal, Richard Butler, described the event as "epoch-making".

He added, "It may be that after 1965 every new power station being built will be an atomic power station."

Sir Edwin Plowden, chairman of the Atomic Energy Authority, also stressed the ground-breaking nature of the new power station.

"Nothing that comes after will be able to detract from the importance of this first great step forward," he said.

Her Majesty the Queen gave her speech in the shadow of the massive chimneys of the Windscale plant, where explosives were made for Britain's first atomic bomb, and she gave a timely reminder of the more sinister origins of the technology.

"This new power, which has proved itself to be such a terrifying weapon of destruction," she said, "is harnessed for the first time for the common good of our community."

At 1216 GMT, she pulled the lever which would direct electricity from the power station into the National Grid for the first time.

A large clock on the wall of the power station registered the first kilowatts of energy to be produced.

The town of Workington, 15 miles (24 km) up the Cumberland coast from Calder Hall, became the first town in the world to receive light, heat and power from nuclear energy.

Within four hours, the first nuclear-powered electricity was reaching London.

The government expects to save about 40 million tons of coal by investing in the new technology, and it is planning to supply about 10% of the country's electricity needs from nuclear power within less than 10 years.

Calder Hall is known as a gas-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor, and uses the nuclear reaction in uranium rods to generate power.

Two other nuclear power stations are already under construction - one alongside the existing Calder Hall plant, to be known as Calder Hall B, and the other at Chapel Cross in Scotland.

epicentre: the point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake（震源）

sinister :threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments（险恶的）