Eyewitness: 'Floor was moving underneath me'

(CNN) -- The powerful earthquake that has so far killed thousands of people in central China has left its mark on more than half of the vast nation.

The 7.9-magnitude quake near Chengdu left workers evacuated from buildings in the capital Beijing -- almost 1300 miles (2100 kilometers) away -- while it was also felt in Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Pakistan.

"I've lived in Taipei and California and I've been through quakes before. This is the most I've ever felt," James McGregor, a business consultant who was inside the LG Towers in Beijing's business district, told The Associated Press.

"The floor was moving underneath me."

However, Beijing reportedly escaped any damage to any of its venues for the Olympic Games starting in August.

In Fuyang, 660 miles to the east, chandeliers in the lobby of the Buckingham Palace Hotel swayed.

"We've never felt anything like this our whole lives," AP quoted a hotel employee surnamed Zhu as saying.

In Chengdu, the city closest to the quake's epicenter, water mains burst, mobile phone networks crashed and computer systems were crippled, AP reported.

However, an Israeli student there managed to send a text message to the news agency to report on the situation. See workers in Chengdu hiding under their desks during the quake. »

"Traffic jams, no running water, power outs, everyone sitting in the streets, patients evacuated from hospitals sitting outside and waiting," Ronen Medzini said.

The quake's effects were also felt in Shanghai, AP said, with office workers evacuated from swaying skyscrapers.

Hospital patients were also sent into the streets in many areas, with many lying on their beds with drip tubes still attached to their bodies.

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All About Earthquakes • U.S. Geological Survey • China