Two earthquakes which hit Shunchang county, southeast China's Fujian province, on Tuesday affected the lives of about 45,000 people and caused more than 12 million yuan (US$1.55 million) in losses, officials with the county said Friday.

The earthquakes measuring 4.7 and 4.6 on the Richter scale hit the county at 10:22 a.m. and 10:23 a.m. respectively, according to China's earthquake monitoring network.

No casualties were reported.

The quakes wrecked 5,969 homes, and disrupted water supplies to 400 people. In addition, buildings and walls in 80 schools suffered cracks or damage. The quakes also damaged ten bridges, and a local reservoir reported leaking, said Zhu Zhihua, head of the county government.

Zhu said the county had allocated 360,000 yuan (46,400 U.S. dollars) for repairs and was dispatching more relief workers to help restore services.

Residents whose homes were damaged were relocated to safe areas. The students who were evacuated after the quakes had returned to school. School staff were required to ensure student safety and the early resumption of classes, Zhu said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2007)