Sichuan Province, the epicenter of a magnitude-8.0 earthquake, has so far received about 15.75 billion yuan (about 2.31 billion U.S. dollars) in quake donation, according to an official with the provincial finance department?on Thursday.

Huang Jinsheng, head of the provincial finance department, said in a press conference that the provincial government has received 9.13 billion yuan, while the rest of the funds were forwarded to prefectures and counties in the province.

The official pledged to strictly monitor the use of the donations and make public the use the donations.

Huang Mingquan, head of the provincial civil affairs department, said in the same press conference that the death toll from the earthquake, which took place on May 12 last year in Sichuan Province, was 68,712, and another 17,921 people in Sichuan were missing after the disaster.

(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2009)