China on Monday began a three-day national mourning for the tens of thousands of people killed in a powerful earthquake which struck the country's southwest on May 12.

All public amusements will be suspended for three days from Monday.

The State Council, the Cabinet, on Sunday ordered a nationwide display of respect for the dead.

China's missions abroad were also ordered to observe the order, and condolence books are to be opened in the Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world.

The public are asked to stand in silence for three minutes from 2:28 pm on Monday, the time the deadly quake hit, while automobiles, trains, and ships would sound their air sirens.

The confirmed death toll from the disaster has risen to 32,476 by 2:00 pm Sunday, and the toll would possibly rise to more than 50,000 as many, still buried in rubbles, are feared dead.

During the mourning days, the torch relay for the Beijing Olympic Games will be suspended to mourn the quake victims.

Beijing Olympic organizers said in a statement that the suspension starts Monday "to express our deep mourning to the victims of the earthquake."

And on Sunday, China Seismological Bureau Sunday revised the magnitude of the earthquake from 7.8 to 8.0 on the Richter scale.

The number of injured in magnitude 8.0 earthquake reached 220,109, it said.

In Sichuan alone, a total of 31,978 people were killed since Monday's deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake, with 209,905 others injured.