(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-28 16:38

BEIJING -- The death toll in China's major earthquake increased by close to 1,000 to 68,109 as of 12 pm Wednesday, the Information Office of the State Council said.

A total of 364,552 people were injured and 19,851 others were missing in the 8.0-magnitude quake that jolted southwestern Sichuan Province on May 12.

More than 45.61 million people were affected in the deadly quake, and about 15 million have been evacuated, according to the office.

Hospitals have treated 85,722 injured people, of whom, 55,514 have been discharged, 15,394 still remain in hospital and 6,928 were transferred to other parts of China for treatment.

As of Monday, disaster relief workers had relocated 724,794 people to safe areas, and dug 6,541 survivors out of quake ruins.

A total of 92,131 medical staff have participated in quake relief work in Sichuan Province, among whom 220 comes from overseas countries and regions.

As of Wednesday noon, donations from home and abroad to China's quake-hit regions had reached 34.79 billion yuan ($4.97 billion), up 2.1 billion yuan from the previous dayl.

So far, 9.78 billion yuan, in cash and relief materials, had been forwarded to the earthquake-affected areas.

The government disaster relief funds for earthquake-stricken areas had hit 19.56 billion yuan ($2.79 billion) as of 2 pm Wednesday, up 3.6 billion yuan from the previous day.

The fund included 15.39 billion yuan from the central budget and 4.17 billion yuan from the local budget, the office said.

243 aftershocks monitored in from Tuesday noon to Wednesday noon

A total of 243 aftershocks were monitored in quake-affected zones between Tuesday noon and Wednesday noon, according to the China Seismological Bureau.

The aftershocks included a magnitude 5.7 tremor centering on Ningqiang County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province at 4:37 p.m. Tuesday, and a magnitude 5.4 jolt which struck Qingchuan County of Sichuan Province around 4:03 p.m. Tuesday.

They also included three aftershocks measured above magnitude 4, and 238 very feeble shocks below magnitude 3.9, sources with the bureau said.

As of Wednesday noon, 8,911 aftershocks had been monitored in the quake-hit areas, according to the bureau.

A devastating earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale rocked Wenchuan County of Sichuan on May 12, leading to 68,109 deaths nationwide as of Wednesday noon.