BEIJING.- Authorities erected hundreds of one-room housing units in a region of northwest China where an earthquake destroyed more than 14,000 homes and killed at least 135 people, state media reported.
Twelve people were still missing in the area affected by landslides that flooded two villages, reports said. Rescue crews used excavators to remove thick layers of mud that covered roads and buildings.
State broadcaster CCTV showed images of cranes lifting white, box-shaped room units and placing them in an open field in Meipo, a village in Gansu province. About 260 units have been erected and 500 are expected at nine locations by Friday morning.
The arrival of the prefabricated homes is an indication that many of the more than 87,000 people relocated after Monday night’s earthquake could be homeless for a while. Many have had to endure freezing temperatures in tents made with plastic on the outside and padded fabric on the inside.
The death toll includes 113 people in Gansu and another 22 in neighboring Qinghai province. Almost 1,000 people were injured. The magnitude 6.2 quake hit a mountainous region between the two provinces about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Beijing.
Funerals have been held for the victims, some under Muslim rites, since that is the dominant religion in much of that region.
The mud reached about 3 meters (10 feet) high in two villages in Qinghai province, with only the roofs of buildings visible.
According to experts cited by the CGTN channel, the earthquake liquefied underground sediments in the area, where the water deposit is relatively high. At one point, the sediment penetrated the surface and ran down a ravine toward the villages.
Source: With information from AP
