China battles blizzard, quake victims safe(2)

QUAKE VICTIMS WARM UP

Luckily, victims from the twin earthquakes that jolted Songyuan City of Jilin on October 31, resettled in warm shelters before the blizzard.

More than 4,000 households were affected in Chaganhua Town, the epicenter of the quakes with a magnitude of 5.5 and 5.0 respectively.

Though no deaths were reported, many people's houses have been left unlivable.

Most of the quake victims have found a place to live by renting houses or turning to relatives for help. However, some have had to turn to shelters built by the government.

Liu Yanguang was among the first group from Yingtu Village who moved into the government-sponsored temporary shelters.

Liu's brick-mud home was razed in the quake, and the family of five are now sharing a 25-square-meter room with a heated brick bed and kitchen.

Though the temperature has dropped to minus 10 degrees centigrade outside, the temperature inside the room has reached 20 degrees.

"It is even warmer than the house we used to live in," said Liu.

The shelter is made of steel and benzene boards, whose heat preservation effect is even better than brick houses, according to Zhang Yi, manager in charge of the construction work.

"It is also strong enough to stand quakes above 8.0-magnitude and strong snowstorms," said Zhang.

So far, 270 such steel shelters have been built in the quake area.

SCHOOLS TO CLOSE FOR ANOTHER DAY

The education authority in Jilin told Xinhua that all kindergartens, primary and junior high schools were closed on Monday in the cities of Changchun, Jilin and Baishan, where snow was more than 20 cm deep.

"Students' safety is our top priority. Where the weather is not that bad, closure of schools is not mandatory," said Lu Lin, head of the school security office under the Jilin Provincial Department of Education.

On Monday morning, meteorological observatories issued warnings for heavier snow during the next 24 hours, adding that the blizzard was expected to wane on Tuesday.

In response to the forecast, Harbin City decided all kindergartens and schools would remain shut on Tuesday.