The death toll from the May 12 earthquake increased by nearly 1,000 and stood at 68,109 as of noon on Wednesday, the State Council Information Office said.

Another 364,552 people were injured and 19,851 others were still listed as missing following the 8.0-magnitude quake that hit Sichuan Province.

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

Hospitals had treated 85,722 injured people as of Wednesday noon, of whom 55,514 were discharged, 15,394 were still being treated and 6,928 were transferred to other parts of China for treatment.

The office said 92,131 medical staff have participated in quake relief work in Sichuan Province, of whom 220 were from overseas.

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

By Wednesday noon, electricity in 45 of Sichuan's quake-affected counties had been basically restored, according to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Power supplies in Beichuan and another eight counties had only partially resumed, it said.

As of Tuesday, 1,900 temporary houses had been set up in the quake zones and 4,400 were under construction.

Meanwhile, about 601,900 tents, 3.87 million quilts and 8.76 million items of clothes had been sent to the quake-affected areas as of midday Wednesday.

Another 480,000 tons of fuel and 1.01 million tons of coal were also dispatched to the quake zones.

As of Tuesday, domestic insurers had received 202,000 quake-related claims and paid out 110 million yuan (about US$14.08 million) in compensation, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2008)