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VANCOUVER - A group of British Columbia university students caught in a massive earthquake in China have been left in constant fear of aftershocks since fleeing their crumbling classrooms "while the ground bounced us around," says their professor.

The 7.8 magnitude quake on Monday left at least 12,000 people dead in the Sichuan province of China, where 10 students and a professor from the University of the Fraser Valley arrived last week for a three-month term abroad.

None of the group were injured but their trip was thrown into chaos when the earthquake rattled the campus and sent the students running for safety.

"We had to scramble out of the room we were in while the ceiling was crumbling down, and then through a short maze of narrow corridors that finally opened onto a sports field, where we stood or fell for a good minute while the ground bounced us around," the professor leading the trip, Chris Bertram, wrote in a an update sent to his colleagues and released by the university Tuesday.

They were joined in short order by about 40,000 others seeking refuge outdoors at Sichuan Normal University in the city of Chengdu.

"The scene in that field was more surreal than anything I have ever seen," Bertram wrote.

According to his account, the damage at the university pales in comparison to the devastation reported throughout Sichuan province, where schools and homes were left in ruins and tens of thousands of people are believed to be buried in the rubble.

Bertram said the students spent the first night outside in the rain. They expected to sleep inside Tuesday night, after the university deemed the dormitories safe.

The students had food, water and electricity once again but Bertram said they were wary of the tremors that continued to shake the ground.

"Even when it isn't rocking, you have delusions that it is," he said.

"Most of the green space, recreation space, and any space that keeps the rain away have become makeshift tent cities where students have taken shelter. Some people have tarps, but most are making shelters from anything that is available, including bunches of umbrellas," Bertram wrote.

"It is becoming clear that we were relatively lucky compared to people even within 20 minutes from here."

The university said it had contacted the families of the 10 students, aged 20 to 28.

Moises Abubo of Surrey, B.C., said his family received an e-mail from his grandson, Christopher De Guzman, 20, soon after the quake telling them he was OK.

"We were worried, and we didn't know if they were affected by the earthquake," Abubo said in an interview.

But Abubo said De Guzman's family is still worried he could be in danger.

"There might be some aftershocks, and that's dangerous," said Abubo.

"I think the school should make a decision for them to come back. Maybe the best thing for them is to just continue their studies here."

The airport in Chengdu remained closed to commercial traffic and the university said there were no plans as of yet to bring the group home.

"We can't really get them home quite yet," said Greg Anderson, head of the University of the Fraser Valley's kinesiology department.

"We're just playing all that by ear. As we get information from them we'll update what we might be able to do with them. Right now they're safe and they have everything they need and we're grateful for that."

Anderson said information has been scant.

"We're supplying information that they can't get in China," he said.

In the meantime, Bertram said the students are eager to help in the relief efforts.

"It has also become clear that sitting and waiting is not helping anyone," he said.

"Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning we are going to downtown Chengdu to donate blood. My hope is that contributing to the relief effort will give us a sense of power in a situation that has led us all to feel quite powerless."

Back in B.C., members of Canada's only urban search and rescue team say it appears their highly specialized team will not be going to China to help with rescue efforts.

Brian Inglis, leader of the team based in Vancouver, said the federal government would have to provide a heavy-lift aircraft to move all the gear needed for the team to search the shattered buildings for survivors.

The urban search and rescue team was acclaimed for its work helping victims of the New Orleans hurricane but it must be dispatched by a federal order that Inglis said appeared increasingly unlikely to come.

However, he lauded the rescue efforts of the Chinese, saying all countries should react to an emergency the way they have.

Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC, on Tuesday extended its sympathy to organizers of Beijing's upcoming Olympic Summer Games.

"All of us at VANOC are deeply saddened by the untimely tragedy that has struck your country and claimed the lives of thousands of your countrymen, women and children. We send our concern and profound regret to all of the people of China at this time of great human loss," wrote CEO John Furlong in a letter to Wang Wei, vice-president of the Beijing organizing committee.

"Just as you have in your preparations for the Games, you will most certainly rise to the occasion and overcome this adversity in the most inspired way."