Two earthquakes, which struck two counties in northwest China's
Gansu
Province on Saturday, forced people to take shelter in wheat
stacks and makeshift shelters overnight and put them in desperate
need of tents and food, a local official supervising the relief
operation said Monday.
The two quakes which registered 5.8 and 6.1 on the Richter
scale, rumbled through Minle and Shandan counties in Zhangye
Prefecture in Gansu.
More than 10 buses as well as all 20 cars belonging to the Minle
local government were sent to Yaozaizi village in the county, the
epicenter of the quakes, with relief provisions for the local
people to protect them from the cold, as the temperature can drop
to minus 8 C at night at this time of year there.
A total of 2,000 cotton tents as well as 3,200 items of
clothing, and 200 packages of instant noodles have reached Minle
County, the hardest-hit area, said Zhou Minxia, a publicity
official from Minle County.
The central government has earmarked 7 million yuan (US$846,400)
for initial relief work.
The Red
Cross Society of China has dispatched relief materials worth
300,000 yuan (US$36,000) to the disaster-stricken area, including
food, clothing and cotton quilts.
Ma
Man Kei, vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference, yesterday donated HK$100,000 (US$12,900)
to help the people caught in the disaster, according to Xinhua.
A report from the Gansu provincial civil affairs bureau said
nine people were confirmed dead and a total of 43 were injured, six
of them seriously.
Local government estimates the economic losses at about 327
million yuan (US$40 million). About16, 000 head of livestock has
been killed and 10,000 homes leveled.
As well, 5,800 acres of farm land were affected, but the quakes
caused no serious damage to crops, as most crops in this
mountainous area were harvested earlier in the month.
(China Daily October 28, 2003)