Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake　 　

    BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the May 12 earthquake increased by nearly 1,000 to climb to 68,109 as of noon on Wednesday, the Information Office of the State Council said.

    Another 364,552 people were injured and 19,851 others were still listed as missing following the 8.0-magnitude quake that hit Sichuan Province.

    More than 45.61 million people were affected by the deadly quake and about 15 million have been evacuated, according to the office.

    Hospitals had treated 85,722 injured people as of Wednesday noon, of whom 55,514 were discharged, 15,394 were still being treated and 6,928 were transferred to other parts of China for treatment.

    The office said 92,131 medical staff have participated in quake relief work in Sichuan Province, of whom 220 were from overseas.

    As of Tuesday, disaster relief workers had relocated 724,794 people to safe areas and dug 6,541 survivors out of quake ruins.

    A total of 243 aftershocks were monitored in the quake zones during the 24 hours ended at Wednesday noon, according to the China Seismological Bureau.

    These included a magnitude 5.7 tremor centered in Ningqiang County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province at 4:37 p.m. Tuesday and a magnitude 5.4 shock in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, at 4:03 p.m. Tuesday.

    Another three aftershocks measuring between 4.0 and 4.9 on the Richter scales and 238 very feeble shocks (below magnitude 3.9) were also detected during the 24 hours, the bureau said.

    By Wednesday noon, 8,911 aftershocks had been detected in the quake-hit areas since May 12, according to the bureau.

    So far, no major epidemics or medical emergencies were reported in the quake zones, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

    As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, about 1.75 million doses of vaccines against Hepatitis A, epidemic encephalitis B and other infectious diseases allocated by the health ministry had arrived at the quake zones.

    By Wednesday noon, electricity in 45 of Sichuan's quake-affected counties had been basically restored, according to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Power supplies in Beichuan and another eight counties had only partially resumed, it said.

    As of Tuesday, 1,900 temporary houses had been set up in the quake zones and 4,400 were under construction.

    Meanwhile, about 601,900 tents, 3.87 million quilts and 8.76 million items of clothes had been sent to the quake-affected areas as of midday Wednesday.

    Another 480,000 tons of fuel and 1.01 million tons of coal were also dispatched to the quake zones.

    Government relief funds had hit 19.56 billion yuan (about 2.75 billion U.S. dollars) as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, up 3.6 billion yuan from Tuesday, according to the Information Office.

    Domestic and foreign donations stood at 34.79 billion yuan by Wednesday noon, up 2.1 billion yuan from the previous day.

    So far, 9.78 billion yuan, in cash and relief materials, had been forwarded to the earthquake-affected areas, the office said.

    As of Tuesday, domestic insurers had received 202,000 quake-related claims and paid out 110 million yuan in compensation, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.