Up to 50,000 residents must move from highly-dangerous terrain in Wenchuan, epicenter of the May 12 earthquake, to shelters built on open and solid ground before June 30 to avoid secondary disasters.

On Sunday, the first group of 3,000 farmers from Longxi Township was evacuated to live in 600 tents erected on open ground near Banqiao Village in Mianchi, a township not far away.

Chen Zhisong, Ebu Village Party secretary, said over the phone that his village of 71 households, with 362 people in all, was evacuated to 72 tents.

"The village is left with 12 militia men on guard."

The Wenchuan County government on Wednesday issued an urgent circular asking more than 50,000 residents living in highly-risky mountainous areas threatened by secondary disasters, such as aftershocks and landslides, to move out. They were required to seek shelter at makeshift accommodation centers before the rainy season began on June 30.

According to Wang Bin, Wenchuan County Party secretary, apart from temporary accommodation center in Banqiao, a portion of the 50,000 evacuees would be arranged to live in four other temporary centers built in Mianci, Weizhou, Yanmen townships, or in a corridor opened up between Mianci and Yanmen.

The powerful 8.0 magnitude quake struck Sichuan Province with Wenchuan as its epicenter. In Wenchuan alone, 15,941 people were killed, leaving 7,662 missing and 34,583 injured.

The quake destroyed more than 500,000 rural homes with a direct economic loss placed at 100 billion yuan (about US$14.29 billion).

The quake zone in Sichuan has been torn by repeated rounds of aftershocks. Up to 6:00 PM on June 11, there had been 11,644 aftershocks in the quake zone since May 12, including 33 aftershocks with a magnitude exceeding 5.0.

Nationwide, the worst quake to hit China in three decades had killed at least 69,170 people and left millions homeless.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2008)