Nine days have passed since the quake that rocked southwest China and killed more than 40,000, but rescuers are still busy searching for survivors, encouraged by occasional "miracles".

Wang Youqun:

The 60-year-old retired shop assistant was rescued from between two large stones in Pengzhou city 196 hours after the earthquake at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, after living on rainwater and "talking" with two dogs to keep herself awake.

She had been in a temple when the quake struck. She was hit on the head by a falling girder and was unconscious for a whole day. She also suffered a broken hip.

She is being treated in Huaxi Hospital in Chengdu.

Ma Yuanjiang:

A power plant executive, Ma was freed from the wreckage of a plant building in Yingxiu township just before 1 a.m. on May 20, 179 hours after the earthquake. The 31-year-old, who was "as fragile as a newborn baby", had his left forearm amputated early on Wednesday morning.

Rescuers were drilling to save his colleague, Yu Jinhua, on Sunday when Ma began banging with rocks from 10 meters below. "I slept well in the debris," he was said after being rescued. He is now beginning to eat.

Peng Guohua:

The miner was rescued at around 4:30 p.m. on Monday, 170 hours after being sealed in a 10-meter-deep lime mine near Suishui Township of Mianyang. The 37-year-old lived on clean toilet paper and his own urine.

Peng, who was in stable condition, said he believed that his wife would "definitely come and save" him.

Wang Chunbang:

The 56-year-old from Shiba village of Qingchuan county was pulled from the rubble 164 hours after being trapped. He had been drinking urine before being found by solders at 9 a.m. on Monday.

Wang and his colleagues were on their way home, when the quake buried their railcar. Rescuers heard him breathing after recovering two bodies in the shaft. He had suffered dehydration, but is out of danger.

Li Mingcui:

The 61-year-old was saved at 10:40 a.m. from below the rubble in the old town area of Qushan Township, Beichuan County, after being buried for 164 hours. Rescuers said Li had multiple fractures and suffered serious infections, but remained conscious and was out of danger.

"She slept with sweaters and socks on even in summer," said her son Zhao Jun, who didn't expect his mother to be so strong.

Yu Jinhua:

Yu was pulled alive from a flattened power plant in the Yingxiu Town of quake epicenter Wenchuan County at around 8:10 p.m. on Sunday. She should have started her work that day at 5 p.m., but was called to a meeting, according to her husband Zhang Hongquan.

Rescuers dug a five-meter deep whole to reach her, and had to amputate her legs before saving her. Yu was described as "delirious", murmuring that she was already in a hospital and pleading with rescuers to stop saving her. But she later regained consciousness.

It took 56 hours for rescuers to free her, the longest rescue time to date.