Yunnan earthquake victims compensated
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The families of victims from a moderate quake that hit a densely inhabited town in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Thursday will get 10,000 yuan($1,515) in compensation, the China News Service reported Friday.
The 5.8-magnitude tremor, which jolted Yingjiang County, left at least 25 people dead and 250 others injured.
Rescuers were ordered to search every damaged building for survivors. More than 6,100 people, including soldiers, police officers, medical staff and civilians, have participated in the rescue, freeing at least 94 trapped people and sending more than 200 injured people to hospitals.
The county needs 5,000 more tents for the homeless, said Zhao Jin, Party chief of Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Dehong, which oversees Yingjiang.
The central, provincial and local governments have earmarked 79 million yuan ($12.01 million) in emergency aid to the disaster regions, the Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
"We are now short of disinfectant, crucial for post-quake, epidemic-prevention work," said Zhang Tao, president of the People's Hospital of Yingjiang.
An official with the Red Cross Society of China's Shanghai Branch told the Global Times on Friday that it was sending more than 160,000 yuan ($24,242) worth of relief supplies, which are all daily necessities, including sleeping bags and chopsticks.
The Xinhua News Agency said that experts have not ruled out the possibility that stronger quakes might hit the region again, and they could not say whether the 5.8-magnitude tremor was the main quake.
In response to the quake reports, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her condolences on behalf of the Obama administration Friday.
"As people in Yunnan Province mourn the loss of life and work to save those that are injured and trapped in the rubble, our thoughts are with the injured, the families of the victims, and with all the people of China," she said in a statement.
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