China's Ministry of Finance said Tuesday it had allocated 860 million yuan for disaster relief in the quake-hit western areas.

Of the total, 700 million was allocated on Monday night to Sichuan Province, where the epicenter was located, and the rest went to other affected provinces such as Gansu, Shaanxi and Yunnanand the Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday.

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale on Monday had left 9,219 people dead in eight provinces and municipalities, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)