China earthquake death toll rises to 51,151

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The known death toll from China's historic earthquake increased by 9,798 overnight and stood at 51,151 as of 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, according to the Information Office of the State Council (cabinet).

Another 288,431 people were counted as injured and 29,328 were still listed as missing as a result of the 8.0-magnitude quake that shook the southwestern province of Sichuan on May 12.

Thursday was the first day since the quake on which no survivors were reported to have been rescued.

The Ministry of Health said that 3,444 people injured in the quake had died in hospitals as of Thursday noon.

Hospitals have admitted 68,608 injured people since the quake. By noon on Thursday, 28,497 people had been treated and discharged, while 33,665 were still being treated, the ministry said. Meanwhile, 3,002 patients have been transferred outside of Sichuan for further treatment.

As of Thursday noon, domestic and foreign donations had reached21.4 billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollars), up 5.4 billion yuan overnight, the Information Office said. So far, 1.9 billion yuan had been forwarded to the earthquake-affected areas, the office said.

The government disaster relief fund for the affected areas reached 13.975 billion yuan as of 2 p.m. on Thursday, up about 1.1 billion yuan from the previous day, according to the Ministry of Finance. The total included 10.295 billion yuan from the central budget and 3.68 billion yuan from local budgets.

Meanwhile, 403,340 tents, 2.3 million cotton-padded quilts and 3.05 million articles of clothing had been sent to the survivors, and 384,000 tons of wheat and rice were being sent to the region.

As of 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the U.N. Refugee Agency had provided more than 150,000 tents to provide temporary shelter for those left homeless, the Foreign Ministry said.

According to the China Seismological Bureau, as of Thursday noon, 167 aftershocks measuring 4 or above on the Richter Scale had been recorded. Quakes between 5 and 5.9 on the Richter scale numbered 26, while quakes above 6 on the Richter scale numbered four.

Power had mostly been restored except in Beichuan County, one of the worst-hit areas, while Hongyuan's electricity had been cut off again due to aftershocks, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said in a statement.

So far, 23,117 of the 25,062 damaged telecommunications base stations have been repaired, while 13,885 kilometers of the 24,056km in damaged cables have been fixed, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.