The funds come from the central budget and will be used to pay for repairs to infrastructure and public facilities destroyed in Luding county during the quake, which occurred on September 5.

Earlier this month, the Chinese Government allocated 28.9 million dollars on disaster relief and to support search and rescue operations, which are being carried out amid fears that torrential downpours could cause landslides, overflowing rivers, and floods.

The magnitude 6.8 quake had an epicenter 16 kilometers deep, and more than 2,000 aftershocks followed it.

Sichuan is regularly hit by severe earthquakes, one of which left 87,000 dead and thousands missing in 2008, so it was defined as China’s worst earthquake in recent years.

pgh/iff/ymr