'We Have no Time to Weep,' Earthquake Victim

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 26, 2003

'We Have no Time to Weep,' Earthquake Victim

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"It was lucky that the earthquake happened in the daytime," says Urhan, a 60-year-old Uygur woman from Qongkurqak Township, the worst-hit area in Monday morning's earthquake which shook Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"The family was having breakfast when we felt shaking and heard the rumble of the earthquake. I immediately pushed my two grandsons out of the room and quickly run out, but I was knocked down by falling bricks and I crawled out. Minutes later, the house collapsed," she recalls.

Chen Li, an official of Kashi Prefecture, says, "Fortunately, the school pupils were holding a flag-raising ceremony in a square and many people were laboring in the open fields when the earthquake struck."

As many as 240 residents of Qongkurqak, the worst-hit area in Xinjiang, died in the earthquake. Almost all the homes have been reduced to piles of debris.

The earthquake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, jolted Jiashi and Bachu counties at 10:03 a.m. (Beijing time), leaving 266 people confirmed dead and more than 2,000 injured. No foreigners or Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan or overseas Chinese have been reported dead.

The two areas were ancient towns along the Silk Road in the eastern foothills of the soaring Pamirs.

"It was the most deadly earthquake in this area since 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded," says Gao Guoying, director of the forecast center of the Xinjiang Seismological Bureau.

So far, more than 600 seriously injured people have been sent to five local hospitals, says an official with the regional Seismological Bureau.

"Our hospital is overwhelmed with the injured from teenagers to people in their 70s," says a doctor in the People's Hospital of Bachu County.

Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble in hope of finding more survivors. "Many rescuers haven't had any sleep," says Xu Chuanhai, head of the disaster relief panel of Bachu County.

"Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army dug survivors out of the debris with their bare hands which were bleeding," recalls Tohuti, vice-chairman of the Political Consultative Conference of Qongkurqak Township.

Almost all locals are now sleeping in the 9,000 quilted tents which the central and local civil affairs departments shipped to Bachu and Jiashi counties. Many residents in the quake-hit areas are still fearful of more tremors.

Their plight has moved people across China. Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,Premier Zhu Rongji, Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao and other leaders of the CPC central committee and the State Council expressed their deep concern and have monitored the rescue efforts by phone.

Wen Jiabao issued an order requiring relief goods to reach victims within 24 hours.

"We must ensure victims do not suffer from hunger and cold and we must prevent the spread of disease," said Wen.

CPC regional chief Wang Lequan and regional government chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi broke off visits to Beijing and arrived in the affected areas at the small hours of Tuesday morning.

More than 2,000 soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army are helping local residents to dig out the victims and their properties and rebuild their houses.

The first shipments of relief goods -- 1,200 tens and 1,000 cotton quilts -- have reached Jiashi and Bachu counties and have been distributed to residents. More relief materials from the rest of China and overseas are en route to victims.

The quake-stricken areas have received 400,000 yuan-worth of medical instruments donated by hospitals across China. A 300-member medical team is working day and night to save the lives of wounded.

The China Red Cross Society and Xinjiang regional government have set up special bank accounts to accept donations and opened 24-hour hotlines.

Relief materials arrived in the area and were delivered to residents before dawn Tuesday. The temperature dropped to below freezing in the area on Tuesday night, but residents were all provided with tents and quilts.

Urhan, in Qongkurqak Township, cooks beside a tent equipped with quilts and food she received from the local government.

"The government is sure to help us tide over the difficulty and rebuild our home," she says.

Over the past two days, tractors carrying bodies could be seen in many parts of the two counties. Survivors buried their loved ones according to local Muslim customs.

Dawuti Aximu, a young man of Uygur nationality, is busy distributing relief materials together with other fellow villagers. "Many were killed. I lost five family members in the quake. But we have no time to weep. We have to work for the living right now," he says.

The earthquake destroyed more than 900 classrooms at 30 schools in the Qongkurqak and school has been suspended.

A township educational bureau official estimated that 300,000 yuan (36,144 US dollars) was needed to rebuild the 30 schools.

Jiashi and Bachu, an earthquake-prone zone, have suffered 19 tremors measuring five or above on the Richter scale since 1996. At least 313 people have been killed, and over 2,000 injured in these disasters. The previous 18 quakes have caused over 1.4 billion yuan (169 million US dollars) in economic losses.

Xu Deshi, an official of the State Seismological Bureau, said the weak structures of local earthen houses accounted for many of the casualties in Monday's earthquake.

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