Hundreds of schools damaged after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake strikes Sichuan and Yunnan

UNICEF expressed concern over the children affected by the new earthquake that struck Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces at 16:30 local timeon 30 August, 2008. The quake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale left at least 38 people dead and 982 injured. Hundreds of schools were damaged, forcing schools to delay the new semester.

The earthquake hit in a mountainous and ethnic people populated area along Sichuan province's border with Yunnan province. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, about 532,000 houses, made mostly of wood and mud bricks, were destroyed or damaged in the quake, leaving about 1.2 million people in urgent need of shelter with the winter approaching.

The epicenter located about 30 km southeast of Panzhihua city. China National Seismological Network said the new earthquake, was not the aftershock of the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake which killed nearly 70,000 people and left millions homeless.

The worst-affected were Sichuan Province's Panzhihua City (particularly Renhe District) and Huili County; and Yunnan Province's Chuxiong Yi Ethnic Autonomous Prefecture, Dali Bai Ethnic Autonomous Prefecture, and Zhaotong City.

The new quake struck two days before schools were to open for the new semester. As of 1 September, the earthquake and more than 900 aftershocks have destroyed or damaged at least 4,500 classrooms totaling more than 200,000 sqm. For now, the start of the school year has been postponed to 8 September in many areas of the new earthquake zone.

In Sichuan's Huili County, for example, 153 of the 290 primary and middle schools were affected and more than 2,500 classrooms were damaged. And in Yunnan's Chuxiong Prefecture, thousands of classrooms have been destroyed or severely damaged, leaving an estimated 20,000 children or 5% of all students in the prefecture unable to attend school. Meanwhile, information on the status of schools in remote mountainous villages is still very limited.

The central and local governments have sent more than 42,000 tents and 33,000 quilts to the area. But, the Minster of Civil Affair expressed concerns that they were not enough for winter as heavy rain, difficult terrain, and disruptions in mobile telephone communications made relief efforts hard to reach the people in high-altitude mountainous regions .

For the past three months, UNICEF has been working in the areas devastated by the 12 May earthquake. In the wake of the 30 August earthquake, UNICEF will undertake field missions to the affected areas to make assessments and plan interventions.