Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao described a powerful earthquake that struck southwest China on Monday as a "major disaster", and called for calm. "(When) facing (a) disaster, the most important thing is calm, confidence, courage and strong leadership," said Mr Wen, talking to China's CCTV television station on a flight to quake-hit areas. The 7.8-magnitude quake, which hit Wenchuan County in the southwestern province of Sichuan shortly before 2.30 pm, left at least 107 people dead and hundreds injured, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.