The No. 2 Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps confirmed Wednesday night that Tuesday's earthquake in Wushi County, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, destroyed 5,800 rooms of 900 households affiliated with the division. No casualties have been reported.
The earthquake partially damaged the homes of another 6,000 division families.
Some primary and middle schools have suspended classes for 10 days in order to repair the schoolrooms damaged in the earthquake.
The division's Fourth Regiment is located near the epicenter of the quake, which measured 6.2 on the Richter scale. Sources said that 2,580 rooms of 430 families and 4,750 square meters of livestock shelters were damaged.
Sun Yuliang, the regimental commander, said that 1,720 members of the regiment affected by the quake have moved into the homes of their relatives or other safe places.
A team consisting of workers from the State Seismological Bureau and the Ministry of Civil Affairs arrived in Wushi Wednesday afternoon to help with rescue operations.
The division has earmarked 1 million yuan (US$120,000) for aid for the Fourth Regiment. One hundred tents and 10 tons of grain have also been sent.
Two aftershocks, one measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale and the other measuring 4.5, were detected at 7:16 PM and 7:34 PM on the day of the main quake. Both tremors could be felt in Wushi County, 60 kilometers from the epicenter.
Located in southern Xinjiang, Wushi has a population of 180,000, 97 percent of whom are ethnic Uygurs.
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, formerly a military unit, has built a number of modern towns in the region. The Corps employs more than 2.5 million people and operates more than 1,500 enterprises and complete education, research, culture, health, finance and insurance systems.
(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2005)
