The Ministry of Civil Affairs reported this week that 1,326 people died in natural disasters in the first nine months of this year and another 186 remain missing.

Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Yang Yanyin said on Wednesday -- International Day for Disaster Reduction -- that more than 170 million people have been affected by natural disasters that included floods, droughts, landslides, typhoons and earthquakes. Total direct economic losses nationwide are estimated to exceed 90.6 billion yuan (US$10.9 billion).

Although heavy cross-regional flooding did not occur this year along major rivers, localized floods caused huge losses, said Yang. Continuous torrential rains in late August and early September in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province caused what is believed to be the highest flood peak since 1998.

The death toll from floods in southwest China topped 180 and left more than 60 others missing. Landslides and flash floods sweeping through mountain valleys caused most of the deaths.

Earthquakes measuring greater than 5 on the Richter scale struck southwest China's Yunnan Province, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and northwest China's Qinghai Province.

A severe spring drought brought huge economic losses to Inner Mongolia.

The central government has so far allocated more than 5.8 billion yuan (US$700 million) to disaster relief.

The ministry has urged civil affairs departments across the nation to improve disaster monitoring and prevention and to provide more aid to victims. Prompt and efficient disaster relief work has helped to limit casualties, Yang said.

China is one of the world's countries most frequently hit by natural disasters.

International Day for Disaster Reduction is organized by the United Nations' International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. "Learning" is the theme of this year's World Disaster Reduction Campaign, as learning to live with the risks that hazards pose to communities is one of the key ways to protect people and property.

(China Daily October 15, 2004)