A person prayed at the site of a school building ruined by the earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, on Thursday.

Soldiers reached the epicenter of the earthquake in Wenchuan County Wednesday. Initial reports from the site said the area had been severely devastated by the quake. In the town of Yingxiu alone, only 2,300 out of a population of 10,000 survived, according to Xinhua.