Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all-out search and rescue efforts and proper arrangements for those affected to ensure the safety of people’s lives and property after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted Jishishan County in northwest China’s Gansu Province at midnight on Monday.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, gave the instruction after the quake, calling for minimizing casualties.
The quake occurred at 11:59 p.m. Monday and has a focal depth of 10 km. The epicenter Liugou Township is about 8 km from the county seat of Jishishan in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu.
In Gansu alone, the death toll from the earthquake has risen to 105, according to local authorities. The quake also caused 13 deaths in neighboring Qinghai Province, causing damage to infrastructure facilities, such as the water and electricity supply, transportation and telecommunications.
Noting that the disaster area is in a high-altitude region where the weather is cold, Xi highlighted the importance of closely monitoring the post-earthquake situation and changes in the weather to prevent secondary disasters.
Rapid response
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management on Tuesday allocated 200 million yuan (about $28.18 million) of funds to the provinces. Of the total, 150 million yuan (about $21.17 million) will be used to support Gansu, while 50 million yuan (about $7.06 million) will go to Qinghai.
The second batch of relief goods, including 2,500 cotton tents, 20,000 coats and 5,000 rollaway beds, has been sent to Gansu, and Qinghai has also received 1,500 tents, 5,000 cotton coats and 5,000 beds, among other relief materials. As of Tuesday morning, a total of 111,500 relief items have been allocated to local authorities to support the basic needs of the affected people.
In his instruction, Xi stressed organizing the allocation of rescue and relief supplies as soon as possible and repairing damaged infrastructure facilities such as electricity, telecommunications, transportation and heating.
The Chinese president also called for efforts to properly accommodate those affected, safeguard people’s basic livelihood and appease the families of the victims.
Premier Li Qiang also made instructions, urging all-out efforts to rescue the trapped and treat the injured in order to minimize casualties.
In accordance with Xi and Li’s instructions, the State Council has sent a working group to the stricken regions to help guide relief work. Gansu and Qinghai provinces have organized relief support with immediate allocation of relief supplies such as camps and folding beds to the affected areas.
Nationwide aid
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) have deployed multiple rescue forces to quake-hit areas.
According to the PLA Western Theater Command, at 4 a.m. on Tuesday, around 300 troops from the command arrived in the hard-hit Jishishan County. They were tasked with missions that involved searching for victims, rescue operations, and roadway clearing.
Meanwhile, the PAPF Gansu Corps has mobilized over 300 officers and soldiers and deployed more than 40 vehicles to Jishishan. Their tasks included searching for and rescuing individuals, facilitating the transfer of the injured, clearing obstructed roadways, and establishing tents as shelters.
The command added that a team of officers and soldiers of the PAPF Qinghai Corps had arrived in Minhe County, a severely affected area in Qinghai Province. Additional rescue personnel are currently mobilizing for deployment.
The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) has initiated its Level II emergency response and dispatched task forces to disaster areas. A mechanism for emergency coordination in northwest China has also been activated, and search and rescue teams, medical teams and disaster relief teams have been deployed, said the RCSC.
So far, the organization has allocated 5 million yuan (about $710,000) in disaster relief funds and provided 700 cotton tents, 2,000 folding beds, 12,700 quilts, 4,500 cotton-padded coats and 1,000 family packages.
The first batch of disaster-relief supplies, as well as rescue and relief teams, has reached the stricken areas, said the RCSC.
In addition, the National Health Commission announced on Tuesday that a team of medical experts has been dispatched to assist the affected region. The commission has coordinated emergency medical teams from various regions, including Sichuan, Shaanxi and Ningxia, to contribute to rescue efforts in both Gansu and Qinghai.
According to the commission, right after the earthquake, the Gansu provincial health commission dispatched vehicles including 33 ambulances and a team consisting of 173 medical workers to the quake-hit areas to treat and transfer the injured. Qinghai dispatched 68 ambulances and more than 40 experts to the affected areas in the province.
The road network around the epicenter is operating normally, according to the Ministry of Transport. In sections where roadbed collapses and damage to bridge structures were reported, traffic has been restored following initial repair work.
The power supply in Jishishan has been largely resumed. According to the State Grid Corporation of China, electricity has been reinstated for 88.36 percent of users, and the power generation facilities of the nearby Liujiaxia hydropower station are functioning normally.
