May 12 quake kills 122, injures 3,368 in Shaanxi Province

Source: Xinhua | 06-14-2008 08:46

BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The deadly May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province also killed 122 people and injured 3,368 others in neighboring Shaanxi Province, Vice Governor Yao Yinliang told a press conference on Friday.

More than 3.26 million people were affected by the quake in Shaanxi.

Hanzhong and Baoji cities in southwestern Shaanxi were the worst hit, while 92 counties and districts were affected. It caused losses of 24.28 billion yuan (3.51 billion U.S. dollars), Yao said.

The quake also damaged 74 cultural relics and destroyed 307 historic relics.

The provincial government had prioritized temporary shelter for survivors and sought to equip temporary settlements with electric lights, TV sets, clinics, toilets, groceries and police stations.

The province was also seeking to guarantee a tent for each family that had been left homeless and without an income.

Yao estimated that survivors would get about 2.5 billion yuan worth of subsidies from the provincial, city and county governments to rebuild their houses, apart from assistance granted by the state, adding that 20 million yuan in loans would be earmarked for rural house rebuilding.

The province allocated 30,000 pre-fabricated houses from the central government first to schools and hospitals.

Classes had resumed in all quake-stricken cities by the end of last month except Hanzhong, which is scheduled to resume classes on June 20.

The maintenance and consolidation of damaged school buildings was under way and would be completed before the fall semester. Structures to be built for primary schools would be done by next spring and other new school buildings would be completed within two years.

Yao said the provincial government was continuing relief efforts while also promoting economic development, adding that the agricultural sector was busy trying to achieve a successful summer harvest.

The provincial government has cut 6 percent of its annual expense this year by calling a halt to setting up new office buildings and purchasing business vehicles in a bid to finance quake relief.

Yao said that all quake survivors in the province had enough to eat and clean water. Although some survivors don't have individual tents, all have interim shelter.

So far, 258 million yuan in relief funds and 25.8 million kg of relief grain have been appropriated to survivors in Shaanxi.

He said the province is scheduled to complete the quake reconstruction within two years on the principles of scientific planning, reasonable site choice, optimal structure selection and improved construction quality.

The death toll from the quake increased by four overnight to 69,163 as of Friday noon.

Editor:Zhang Ning