China initiates 1st class emergency response for quake relief
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A 15-member rescue team from the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) left Beijing on a flight to Qinghai at 11:40 a.m., the CEA said in a statement to Xinhua.
In addition, a 62-member rescue team of the provincial earthquake department in Qinghai was en route to Yushu, a Tibetan autonomous prefecture in western Qinghai, while 40 rescuers had been dispatched from Qamdo, in neighboring Tibet, the statement said.
Rescuers in neighboring Gansu, Shaanxi, Xinjiang and Ningxia were also on the way to the region, according to the CEA.
The armed police headquarters had ordered 600 officers, stationed in Yushu, to take part in the rescue work and 2,100 more officers in Qinghai were on stand by, according to a headquarters spokesman.
The Lanzhou Military Command has sent one of its top medical teams, including six vehicles and 31 medical workers specialized in high-altitude operations, the military command headquarters told Xinhua.
Army personnel stationed in Yushu had been ordered to help with rescue work immediately and a regiment stationed in Xining, the Qinghai provincial capital, was en route to the region, the sources said.
The military command has also sent 14 special vehicles for food supply to Yushu.
The State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has sent two aircrafts for remote sensing and six technicians to the quake-hit areas. Two more aircrafts will set for the areas on Thursday.
A remote sensing aircraft sent by the PLA Navy has arrived at Yushu as of 3:30 p.m.
Chinese Academy of Sciences has also sent aircraft equipped with remote sensing camera to Qinghai.
In addition, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a press release that it would send 5,000 tents, 50,000 cotton coats and 50,000 quilts to the quake-hit region.
The provincial government had also arranged to send 5,000 tents, the statement said.
The Ministry of Education has also started its first class emergency response plan.
Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation has sent a letter to its mainland counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, to express deep concern over the loss of lives and property incurred by the quake.
The Red Cross organization in Taiwan has sent a letter to the mainland to extend consolation and the willingness to offer assistance in the rescue work. The fire crew in Taipei would be sent to Qinghai for rescue work upon request, the letter said.
Fire-fighting authorities in the island indicated that a group of 23 rescuers would be in place in four hours any time upon request.
