Prefabricated houses set up for victims of Gansu earthquake

Construction workers in Northwest China's Gansu province are working tirelessly to build prefabricated houses for residents impacted by a recent 6.2-magnitude earthquake so that they can move from tents to warmer structures for the upcoming Chinese New Year Festival.

As of 7 am on Monday, 8,793 prefabricated houses had been transported to the Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, with 8,096 houses already built, local officials said at a news conference on Monday afternoon. 

The quake, which mainly jolted Linxia prefecture around midnight on Dec 18, has resulted in a death toll of 149 in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai province.

"More than 3,800 workers and over 1,000 pieces of machinery and equipment have been put into the construction," Mao Hongbo, deputy director of Linxia said at the conference. 

In the five worst-hit townships in the prefecture — Dahejia, Liuji, Shiyuan, Liugou and Chuimatan — a team of more than 600 experts is conducting emergency housing assessment for all households and developing plans for the mobile board houses. "According to the evaluation results, we plan to build 15,000 prefabricated houses to provide one house to each family."

"The prefabricated houses are equipped with beds, bedding, stoves, electric heaters, and carbon monoxide alarms," said Mao. "Additionally, relocation sites for the affected residents offer police, medical, and other necessary services."

After moving into a warm house, Ma Zhiying immediately went to help his fellow villager Ma Heimai set up the stove in the prefabricated house.

"Villagers also used tricycles to help each other transport daily articles between the tents and the prefabricated houses," said Ma Zhiying, a villager of Chenjia village. "I felt quite warm from my fellow villagers as well as the strength and power of our country."

During the inspection tour in Linxia to oversee earthquake relief efforts on Sunday, Ren Zhenhe, governor of Gansu, instructed officials at the resettlement sites to rest in the tents until all affected residents have moved into the prefabricated houses, local media reported on Monday.

"We will make every effort to ensure the timely and efficient completion of the construction tasks, to allow the affected people to welcome the New Year in warm accommodations," Mao said.