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Earthquake aftershocks to Sichuan

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-26 11:32

A bird's eye view of earthquake-devastated Maoxian county in Sichuan province. Maoxian was traditionally a major agricultural production base and tourism destination in Southwest China. [China Daily]

In addition to its massive physical destruction, the devastating May 12 earthquake will deliver multiple aftershocks to the economy of the worst affected region, Sichuan province.

The quake is currently estimated to have indirectly caused 30 billion yuan ($4.32 billion) to 60 billion yuan in damage and the total economic losses could be as high as 105 billion to 190 billion yuan, the Southwest Securities research and development center predicts.

The quake will also slow the growth of the nation's economy by 0.15 to 0.2 percentage points during the second to fourth quarter of the year, it adds.

The impact will differ in various areas and the total loss will exceed the January blizzards, which cost the economy 151.7 billion yuan.

Agriculture

The quake has seriously affected agricultural production in Sichuan and other regions, says Wei Chao'an, agriculture vice-minister.

The earthquake, which triggered landslides in the mountainous province, has damaged 33,333 hectares of farmland, including more than 10,000 hectares of wheat and rapeseed and more than 20,000 hectares of vegetable plantations, in the 13 worst-hit cities and counties of Sichuan province, Wei says.

"A large amount of farming facilities, including more than 20,000 farm machines, have been damaged," Wei says.

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