The death toll from a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in northwest China's Qinghai Province on April 24 has climbed to 2,203, the rescue headquarters said late Saturday.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, 73 people were still missing, the headquarters said.

Civil affairs authorities in Qinghai also said Saturday they would raise the monthly allowance for orphaned children, widowed elderly and disabled people in the wake of the quake.

Ma Danzhu, head of the disaster relief division under the provincial department of civil affairs, said the monthly allowance would be raised to 1,000 yuan (146 U.S. dollars) per person, from 600 yuan as normal standard, for three months.

Families of the dead, including locals and migrant workers, also will receive 8,000 yuan in subsidies for each death, according to a policy announced earlier.

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