Power supplies restored in quake area

BEIJING - Power supplies have been restored to areas of Southwest China's Sichuan province severely affected by Saturday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake, said the State Grid Corp. on Monday.

Power supplies in Baoxing county were restored on Sunday night after those to Lushan County and nearby Tianquan County were basically restored in the morning, according to the emergency command center of the State Grid.

The center said the quake caused a power failure in 186,600 households, but that more than 80 percent of them have electricity now. Of the 34 large substations with a capacity of 35 kilovolts or above that were damaged in the quake, 21 resumed operation on Monday morning, and most transmission lines have been restored, it said.

The center has sent more than 2,100 workers and 300 vehicles to the quake area and repairs to damaged facilities are ongoing, according to the center.

The National Energy Administration said Sunday that it had ordered local authorities to step up repairs to damaged power facilities to restore supply and look for potential hazards to oil and gas pipelines, coal mines and nuclear power facilities.

A 7.0-magnitude quake jolted Lushan County of Ya'an at 8:02 am Saturday Beijing time. According to latest statistics gathered by the provincial emergency response command center, 186 people have so far been confirmed killed, with 21 reported missing and 11,393 others injured.