Millions of people in China and overseas observed three minutes silence at 2:28 pm Monday to mourn thousands of people killed in an earthquake which hit the nation's on May 12.

It was exactly one week after the devastating 8.0-magnitude tremor hit Wenchuan County and its neighboring areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, claiming 34,073 lives, 3,304 of them died in hospitals as of 12:00 am on Monday. Another 245,108 people were injured.

Rescuers pay tribute to those who died in a massive earthquake, in front of a clock which stopped at the time the earthquake hit, in the township of Hanwang in Mianzhu city, north of Chengdu in Sichuan Province May 19, 2008. A nation-wide ceremony was held on 14:28 on Monday, exactly one week after a massive earthquake hit Sichuan. [Agencies]

Across the country, air raid sirens, cars, trains and ship horns wailed in grief as the people fell silent.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo, Premier Wen Jiabao, and other top leaders including Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang also stood in silence in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing.

At the Tian'anmen square where the national flag flies at half post, thousands of people shouted "Brave and strong, China!" and "Brave and Strong, Wenchuan!" with some waving the national flags. Wenchuan county was the epicenter of the 8.0-magnitude quake.

Chinese bourses and commodities exchanges also suspended trading for three minutes in remembrance of the earthquake dead.

The three-minute remembrance is part of three-day national mourning for those who died in the killer earthquake.

The State Council, the Cabinet, on Sunday ordered flags to be flown at half-mast and all public entertainment suspended for three days.

National flags will fly at half mast, public entertainments will be cancelled and the Olympic torch relay suspended during the three-day mourning period.

Gong Zhen, a student who survived when the earthquake hit Beichuan county, cries as she attends a ceremony with around 500 students before resuming classes at a factory training centre in Mianyang, Sichuan province, May 19, 2008.  [Agencies]

Condolence books will be opened at the Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world.

Also, the Olympic torch relay will be suspended till Wednesday, organizers said.

Meanwhile, the magnitude of last Monday's quake was Sunday revised from 7.8 to 8 by the China Seismological Bureau.

Rescuers pulled out more survivors on Monday and Sunday. A 61-year-old woman Li Mingcui was rescued at 10:42 am Monday morning after being trapped under the rubble of a bazaar in Beichuan county for 164 hours. The rescuers pulled her out . and sent her to the nearest hospital.

A woman worker of the local power plant was rescued Sunday night in Yingxiu town, Sichuan province, 150 hours after the quake. The rescue team spent 56 hours saving Yu Jinhua.

Sunday afternoon, a 53-year-old man was also rescued in Yingxiu, 148 hours after the tremor. The man, Shen Peiyun, was conscious and was taken to hospital by helicopter.

In the morning, a man named Tang Xiong was rescued from a collapsed hospital in Beichuan county 139 hours after the quake.

Also in Beichuan, another man was rescued Saturday night from a collapsed building. Wu Jianping was then taken to hospital.