A quake-hit Chinese county said it had planned to relocate 10,000 residents to two other provinces as its tough natural environment could not allow the resettlement of all its affected people.

Ma Jian, a senior official of Qingchuan County, one of the worst hit areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, said late Friday the county had decided to displace 30,000 residents.

Among the population, 10,000 will be relocated inside the county, 10,000 in other counties or districts of Guangyuan City, which includes Qingchuan, and 10,000 to northwestern Shaanxi Province and eastern Zhejiang Province.

Ma said Shaanxi and Zhejiang had agreed in principle to accept the relocated people, but details were still under discussion.

Up to 6 p.m. Friday, 4,623 people had been confirmed dead with 199 missing and 14,300 others injured in Qingchuan. The county's 250,000 people were affected by the 8.0 magnitude earthquake on May 12, whose epicenter was in Wenchuan County, Sichuan.

The quake death toll in Sichuan alone has exceeded 50,000.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2008)