164 students affected by earthquake resume classes at temporary shelters in Qinghai

XINING -- A team dispatched by China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) arrived in the earthquake-hit Qinghai province in Northwest China to guide local rescue work.

At 2:04 am on Saturday, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Maduo county of the Golog Tibetan autonomous prefecture in the province.

By 10 pm on Saturday, no casualties had been reported in the prefecture, said the MEM team, citing data from the local government.

The earthquake caused 18 injuries in the prefecture. A total of 24,725 people were affected by the disaster, and 8,157 houses collapsed or were damaged, the data shows.

Five rescue teams from Qinghai Province have been deployed to help with relief work.

By 10 am on Sunday, rescue teams had evacuated 3,765 people, assisted in the construction of tents, distributed drugs and provided medical aid.

"In the next step, we will continue to carry out search and rescue work to ensure that no one is left behind," said Hou Jiansheng from the MEM team.

The team will also continue to resettle residents affected by the earthquake, strengthen earthquake monitoring and work to prevent all kinds of secondary disasters, he added.