Municipal civil affairs bureau statistics show 37 of the 40 districts or counties in the province-size Chongqing municipality have incurred a combined direct economic loss of about one billion yuan (120 million dollars), the Xinhua news agency said.

Since late June, 4,093 places had reported geological events in which 49,700 houses collapsed and 4.06 million locals were "victimized," said the report.

The disasters also ruined 293 schools.

Approximately 13,000 square meters (139,880 square feet) of school buildings had collapsed and another 99,000 square meters were badly damaged, the report said.

Traffic in many parts of the municipality came to a halt.

More than 500 rescue teams equipped with over 200 rescue vehicles have been dispatched to provide food, potable water and accommodation.

The victims have been evacuated from dangerous areas, some of them accommodated with relatives, with others in temporary makeshift shelters provided by the government.

The municipal government also sent more than 400 tents to the worst-affected areas and over 2,000 workers from epidemic prevention departments have been carrying out disinfection tasks, Xinhua said.

TERRA.WIRE