All residents injured in last Saturday's earthquake in Jiujiang, a city on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, have been receiving free medical treatment in the hospital, and there is no outbreak of epidemics in the region.

An official with the health bureau of Jiujiang City said on Wednesday that the 62 people injured in the quake had been hospitalized.

"There is no outbreak of any epidemic, though there is a big jump in the number of people suffering from common cold as a result of living in makeshift shelters in open grounds after last Saturday's quake," said the official.

After last Saturday's quake, health workers and local officials from Ruichang City and Jiujiang County, both of which fall under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang City, went from village to village to collect injured people or teach villagers knowledge about disinfecting the environment.

Jiangxi Province and Jiujiang City have organized 12 rotating medical teams to offer medical services to residents affected in the natural disaster.

An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale hit the area between Jiujiang and Ruichang in east China's Jiangxi Province at around 8:49 a.m. last Saturday, killing 13 people and destroying many houses in Jiujiang as well as in the eastern parts of adjacent Hubei Province.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2005)