Quake-jolted Ludian County in southwest China's Yunnan Province is in urgent need of relief funds, materials and medicines, said a local official Thursday.

The county in the northeast of Yunnan was rocked by an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale at 6:26 PM, Tuesday.

The catastrophe has killed four people and injured 594 people, 167 severely, said Deng Xianpei, mayor of Zhaotong.

Deng said the city has to resettle 126,000 locals after the quake as 18,556 houses have collapsed.

So far, more than 6,050 tents have arrived, but the county is still waiting for funds for resettling the victims, said Deng.

Some hospitals have been damaged in the quake, but the number of injured continues to rise. Antibiotics and disinfecting medicines are "scarce," said Deng.

The county also needs funds to provide compensation for the tragedy-hit people. The quake almost entirely wiped out the flue-cured tobacco industry, the backbone in the region. Statistics show that 130,000 people will have to rely on relief food over the next eight months, a total of 15.6 million kilograms of grain.

Tuesday's tremor was the third earthquake to hit Ludian County in a year. Two earthquakes measuring 5.1 and 5.0 on the Richter scale hit the county on Nov. 15 and 26, 2003. Four people were killed and 120 injured in two previous quakes.

Ludian is among China's poorest counties. It has a population of 370,000, and the average income of local farmers' was only 1,000 yuan (US$120) last year.

Deng also predicted that the county might need 80 million yuan to rebuild, adding that the transport, communication and reservoirs have been damaged severely in the three recent quakes.

There is also possibility of aftershocks at 4 or 5 on the Richter scale, according to the China Seismological Bureau.

Governments at various levels have given great attention to the tragedy. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Vice-premier Hui Liangyu have personally asked the local government to do a good job in the rescue and relief.

A relief team led by Yang Yanyin, vice-minister of civil affairs, has arrived at the quake-hit areas Wednesday afternoon to direct the rescue and relief work. The ministry has allocated 4,000 tents to the affected areas.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have appropriated 12 million yuan (US$1.4 million) in emergency relief to Ludian for resettling quake-affected people, treatment of injured and temporary shelters.

Moreover, Yunnan Province has allocated some 20 million yuan, 6,000 tents, 2,000 quilts and 2,500 items of clothing to these affected areas.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2004)