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Fund and materials sent to quake-hit area in Tibet

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-29 17:10

Truckloads of relief materials, alongside three million yuan ($428,571) in fiscal emergency fund, have been sent to Zhongba, in Xigaze Prefecture in western Tibet, which was hit by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday.

The relief fund is to house 7,600 residents affected by the quake an provide food and clothing, said a source from the Tibet Regional Headquarters of Quake Control and Relief.

The quake struck at 9:22 pm on Monday, with the epicenter about 10 km underground at 31 degrees north and 83.6 degrees east in Zhongba County.

There were no casualties but damage was caused to 622 homes, and 54 rooms in primary and middle schools.

A hydropower station was slightly damaged. The damage included the flood control levee shifting 5 m from its original location and cracks in workshop walls. The plant maintained normal power generation.

According to Zhu Jiang, Party secretary of Zhongba County,  the county had already received relief materials including 400 tents and 3,500 cotton-padded quilts from local governments.

Some 2,000 people whose homes were destroyed in the quake were evacuated. Health and quarantine departments in the country have also prepared needy medicines in case of emergencies, said Zhu.

Primary schools in the three worst-hit townships were told to postpone the start of the new term, which normally opens on September 1, by 15 days.

Zhongba, in the west of Xigaze with a population of 18,000 and covering 43,594 square kilometers, experiences frequent quakes. It is 4,700 meters above sea level.

A 6.7-magnitude quake occurred in the same area in 2004, followed by a 6.5-magnitude quake on April 8, 2005, but neither caused casualties, according to the regional earthquake bureau.