The death toll from a devastating earthquake in northwest China, has risen to 1,706, with 90 people still missing, the official news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.
The quake also left 11,849 people injured, including 1,300 in serious condition.
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake, the strongest to strike the country in two years, hit an area in Qinghai, near Tibet, on the morning of April 14. The epicenter of the earthquake was registered at the depth of 33 km (20 miles) in Yushu county, in the south of Qinghai province.
Aftershocks complicated relief operations. Hundreds of people remain under the debris in Yushu, a Tibetan plateau county where more than 15,000 houses, or 90% of all homes, were destroyed by the quake.
Currently, 10,000 military servicemen, rescuers and doctors are conducting rescue operations in the region.
The Chinese authorities have allocated some 200 million yuan ($30 million) for rescue efforts.
BEIJING, April 18 (RIA Novosti)
