The seriously hit areas, Tanhua Township and Shiyang Town, were blocked from vehicles given the lousy road conditions in the rugged mountains of Dayao County, Chuxiong Yi Ethnic Autonomous Prefecture.

All the relief materials could only make their way to the quake victims living in the remote mountainous areas by men and horses.

Though the earthquake was measured at 6.2 on the Richter scale, but the epicenter at Tanhua Town, at 26 degrees north latitude and101.2 degrees east longitude, was only 6 kilometers from the surface, thus toppling a great number of houses in the county.

Local governments have raised and sent 100 tons of rice and 500tents to Tanhua Township and Shiyang Town, which were worst hit by the tremor.

To date, a total of 1.1 million yuan (132,530 US dollars) has been allocated from local prefecture and county governments to help the earthquake victims.

Meanwhile, army soldiers, armed police and militia reserves began to arrive Tuesday morning to provide relief and rescue.

By 1:20 p.m. (Beijing Time) Tuesday, 15 people were confirmed dead from the shock while more than 390 people were injured.

The earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck Dayao County, 180 kilometers from the provincial capital of Kunming, at 11:16 p.m. Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2003)