The death toll of last Saturday's magnitude-6.1 earthquake has risen to 38. And 589 people were injured. Nearly 1.1 million people in the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan have been affected.
In Huili county of Sichuan,the disaster damaged over 90 percent of homes. Local authorities are busy tearing down those homes to rebuild the quake zone.
The scenery in Huili county of Liangshan Prefecture is marred by the many houses that suffered severe damage.
Demolishing these houses is the first step in reconstruction efforts.
The Liangshan sub-Military Area Command has been helping the relief operations in the area.
Yang Qisong, Political Commissar of PLA Liangshan Sub-military Area Command, said, "The first job we did was to rescue people. We've helped over 130 people who survived and transported more than 100 of the injured to safety. Now we're tearing down the damaged houses."
The head of Liangshan Prefecture says daily necessities such as food, clean water and clothes have been dispatched to disaster-affected people in the area.
He predicts that when more tents arrive, the living conditions for local residents will improve.
But he also says local authorities still need help to build permanent homes and to assist those affected by the disaster to find employment.
Local residents say there are areas in the remote mountainous regions that suffered even more severe devastation than Huili.
But quake-triggered landslides have damaged roads leading to those areas, hampering relief efforts. And it takes several hours at the very least...for relief supplies to get through.
(CCTV September 4, 2008)
