The quake, measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, rocked an area 20 km southwest of Yumen city in Gansu Province on the evening of 21:26 p.m. on Dec. 14.

The earthquake damaged altogether 13,380 houses, five highways, three bridges and killed 1,350 domestic animals in the affected area, said Zhang Jingchang, secretary of the Yumen city Committee of the Communist Party of China.

A total of 76 aftershocks were reported and felt after the quake, Zhang said, adding locals left homeless have now moved into temporary houses, and that no epidemic disease has been reported, Zhang said.

The Jiuquan city government sent a work team composed of seismologists and civil government officials to monitor quake development and organize intensive rescue efforts.

(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2002)