Planning Continues In Spite of Weekend Quakes

CHENGDU: 3rd September 2008: Habitat for Humanity China is set to start a pilot reconstruction program in Sichuan shortly in spite of two earthquakes last weekend.

Habitat for Humanity sources in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, are working as normal.

In Yunnan, the quakes were felt in two areas where Habitat works, in Ganhaizi Miao Ethnic Village, Wuding County, Chuxiong prefecture, but there were no reports of damage. Another project site, Zhaotong City, was also unscathed.

Volunteer teams to Yunnan are continuing at present.

The weekend earthquakes in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, killed a reported 38 people, with another 500 injured and relief needed for “tens of thousands of people” whose homes were reported to have been destroyed.

The first quake measured 6.1-magnitutde hit near the city of Panzhihua on Saturday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency reported. A second, 5.6-5.7-magnitutde aftershock, was felt on Sunday in the same area. The area is about 500 kilometers south of the epicenter of the May quake.

Sichuan is still rebuilding cities devastated by a 8.0- magnitude earthquake that hit the southwestern province in May, killing 69,226 people and leaving 15 million homeless. There have been more 400 aftershocks.