Strong earthquake hits SW Chinese county

The evacuees, with no tents available, rest outdoor on a square in the Yi Autonomous County of Ning'er of Pu'er City in southwest China's Yunnan Province on June 3, 2007. Three people have been confirmed dead, at least 300 others injured after a strong earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck the county on Sunday. [Photo: Xinhua]

The government of Pu'er City has allocated one million yuan for emergency relief. The provincial civil affairs department is sending 2,000 tents, 2,000 quilts and 2,000 items of clothes to the stricken area.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has sent a working group to the area and allotted 5,000 tents from neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The China Red Cross Society and its Yunnan branch have sent the first batch of relief supplies worth 500,000 yuan (65,000 U.S. dollars), including tents, quilts, food and medicines.

Pu'er City, called "Simao" before it was renamed on April 8, is prone to strong earthquakes. It has experienced 20 above a magnitude of five since 1990.

Pu'er, in southwest Yunnan, borders Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar and covers 45,000 square kilometers and has a population of 2.6 million.

Residents in Lincang City, about 200 kilometers from the epicenter, and Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, 300 kilometers from the center, also felt the tremor, but damage and casualty reports are not available.

Rescue officials from the China Earthquake Administration have been dispatched to help local rescue efforts.

The Yunnan government will budget three billion yuan for anti-earthquake project that will benefit one million poor families living in dangerous and shabby houses within 10 years. Every household can get 3,000 to 5,000 yuan of subsidies in restoring their houses.

The government sets a goal of making all rural residents' houses solid enough to resist earthquakes of 6.0 magnitude.

This year, the government invested 500 million yuan in the project covering 166,000 households in 70 counties.

During the 2001-2006 period, Yunnan recorded 27 earthquakes of at least five magnitude, causing 56 deaths, 2,123 injuries and nearly 3.6 billion yuan of losses.

Editor:Du Xiaodan