The central government on Wednesday allocated 10 million yuan
(US$1.2 million) in emergency aid for the victims of an earthquake
that hit Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,
northwest China, on Monday.
The Ministry of Finance announced the relief move in a press
release, saying the money is for helping victims in the quake-hit
areas cope with their living difficulties.
The quake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, occurred at 9:38
a.m. Monday, in Zhaosu County, in the region's Ili Kazak Autonomous
Prefecture with the epicenter located at 43.1 degrees north
latitude, 80.1 degrees east longitude.
The local seismological bureau said on Monday that 10 people
were killed and 34 were injured in the earthquake, and local
officials said on Tuesday a total of 1,226 people, most of whom are
ethnic Mongolians, were seriously affected.
Some 500 homeless people were transferred to relief tents while
some tried to ward off the cold wind in buses amid the frozen
weather.
Local officials said 1,000 tents have been sent by civil affairs
departments to the quake-hit mountainous area, where local
residents battled the bitter cold which dropped to minus 25 degrees
Celsius early Tuesday.
The earthquake toppled 702 residential rooms and seriously
damaged 487 residential rooms, with the direct economic losses
estimated at more than 16 million yuan (US$1.9 million), said
officials with Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2003)