China earmarks disaster relief fund for southwest quake

Students at a primary school in Tagong Town receive body check on Nov 23, 2014, after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Kangding County in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze, Sichuan province Saturday.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - The government on Sunday announced it will disperse 50 million yuan (8.16 million US dollars) to disaster relief efforts in southwest China's Sichuan province after it was rocked by 6.3-magnitude earthquake on Saturday.

The money, which was processed jointly by the civil affairs and finance ministries, will cover the relocation of those affected by the quake; care and life assistance initiatives; the repair and reconstruction of residences; and subsidies for surviving family members of those that have died.

The earthquake hit Kangding County in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze at 4:55 p.m. Saturday.

As of 3:30 p.m. Sunday, the death toll stands at five and the injured at 54.

More than 79,500 people were affected and 25,000 houses were damaged. About 6,200 people had been relocated.

Forty-two students from a primary school in Tagong Town, were injured in a stampede during the quake.

About 100 students were in the Zuqing Primary School in Tagong when the quake happened. Some buildings had cracks, said Mao Yu, head of the publicity department of Kangding.

The quake zone has experienced 95 aftershocks so far, with the strongest one measuring 2.3 magnitude in Richter scale.

Minor cracks appeared in some airport buildings of the Kangding airport near the epicenter, but flights were not affected, said Tan Heng, a clerk at the airport.

Citizens in Chengdu, the provincial capital, said they felt the quake strongly.

"The house window was shaking fiercely. Some people rushed out of the building," said a woman in Chengdu.