Quake jeopardizes cultural heritage

Many intangible cultural heritage relics were severely damaged by the magnitude-8.0 earthquake that jolted Sichuan province on May 12, the Ministry of Culture said on Saturday.

In Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, and Chongqing municipality, 14 national-level intangible cultural heritage relics were damaged; 15,009 precious items were destroyed; and 27 museums and 17 folklore villages sustained severe damage, the ministry's statistics show.

In addition, 10 State-level intangible cultural heritage promotion individuals were injured in the quake, it said.