Relief work underway in quake-affected regions

Construction workers in Gansu province are racing against time to build prefabricated homes for residents affected by the recent magnitude 6.2 earthquake so that they can move from tents to warmer shelters before the upcoming New Year festival.

As of Monday morning, 8,793 prefabricated homes had been transported to the province's Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, with 8,096 already being erected, local officials said at a news conference on Monday.

The quake, which mainly jolted Jishishan county in Linxia around midnight on Dec 18, has so far killed 149 people in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai province.