China might relocate the county seat of Qingchuan, which has had constant aftershocks since the massive May 12 earthquake in which 4,697 local residents died and 15,489 were injured.

"Qingchuan County has proposed a rebuilding plan to higher government departments, and the plan is under assessment now," county head Chen Zhengyong said yesterday. Chen said the county seat might move to Zhuyuan Township, about 70 kilometers south of its original location. Zhuyuan is the only place in the county that is not crossed by fault lines.

"Zhuyuan's geological conditions are ideal for building work, and its groundwater can meet the needs of a new county seat," said Huang Runqiu, deputy head of Chengdu University of Technology and vice chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Qingchuan, with a population of 250,000, is a suburb of Guangyuan City in northern Sichuan bordering Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.

The county has had constant aftershocks since May 12, including nine exceeding 3.0-magnitude since November 1. Two people died and three others were injured in a 5.0-magnitude aftershock on December 11.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2009)