Rescue Among Rubble

　　The government has launched a quick response to an earthquake in southern Yunnan Province， coordinating relief materials and donations

　　A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southwest China’s Yunnan Province on the afternoon of August 3， toppling houses and triggering landslides， leaving 615 dead and more than 3，140 injured as of August 7.

　　As the most powerful earthquake to hit Yunnan in 14 years， the earthquake， whose epicenter was at Longtoushan， a township 23 km southwest of the county seat of Ludian in the city of Zhaotong， is so far the third-deadliest earthquake in China since the beginning of this century， after the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan Province， also in southwest China， which killed more than 69，000 people， and the 2010 Yushu Earthquake in northwest China’s Qinghai Province， which claimed a death toll of nearly 2，700.

　　The disaster has affected 1.09 million people in Zhaotong and its neighboring city of Qujing， and necessitated the emergency evacuation of about 230，000 people from the area， according to an announcement by the Yunnan Civil Affairs Department on August 4.

　　Around 25，500 houses collapsed in the quake and 39，200 houses were seriously damaged， the department said.

　　The severe damage and death toll caused by the quake have come as a consequence of the poor quality of local buildings， the area’s dense population and the quake’s shallow epicenter.

　　“Most rural houses in the county were made of bricks and wood and some even use mud walls built decades ago， which makes them too weak to resist an earthquake such as this，” the China Earthquake Administration commented in a statement.

　　Located in a poverty-stricken area， Ludian is a county on the national list of poverty relief work. According to official figures， Ludian has an average population density of 265 people per square km， twice the provincial average.

　　In addition， the shallowness of the quake， which occurred at a depth of only 12 km， made the earthquake particularly catastrophic and added to the likelihood of secondary disasters such as landslides， as it is currently experiencing the rainy season， the statement added.

　　Quick response

　　In his instructions issued on the evening of August 3， Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered that authorities give top priority to saving people’s lives， minimizing casualties and guaranteeing a proper settlement for quake victims.

　　The first batch of rescuers arrived at Longtoushan Township， the site of the epicenter， on the evening the quake occurred. They said that about 90 percent of wood， earth and brick houses in Longquan Village， the worst hit village in the quake， had collapsed.

　　Rescue teams freed scores of trapped survivors as they dug through the thousands of homes that collapsed. A 5-year-old boy freed on August 4 was among the 200 people rescued by the armed forces in the first two days.

　　In a “miracle” rescue， an 84-year-old man was pulled from the rubble of his own home by rescuers on August 6 after being buried for 67 hours.

　　Relief work had been carried out soon， despite continuous downpours and quake-triggered landslides. Rescuers timely evacuated people threatened by barrier lakes created by post-earthquake landslides.

　　Only hours after the earthquake， civilian donations were pouring in from other parts of China and people were volunteering to help in the rescue.

　　The Ministry of Civil Affairs posted a notice on its website on August 4， advising volunteers who are not professional rescuers not to go to the quake-hit areas until the end of the rescue stage for fear of possible traffic jams， telecom failures and limited boarding facilities.

　　On the same day， the ministry also started shipping 33，460 tents， 10，000 quilts， 10，000 folding beds， 10，000 sleeping bags and other relief materials to Yunnan.

　　A main road into the worst-hit areas of Ludian was clogged with bulldozers， as well as civilian and military vehicles carrying supplies including water and instant noodles on August 4. By 1 a.m. August 5， nearly 10，000 military service members had entered the quake-stricken areas to search for survivors， treat the injured， transport foods and other supplies and prevent the occurrence of communicable diseases.

　　Xinhua News Agency reported on August 4 that Longquan Village was in severe shortage of medicines and the local conditions were too poor to perform operations for the severely injured.

　　Starting from August 5， six helicopters were devoted to delivering food， water and medical supplies to the quake-affected areas and to perform medical evacuation of the severely injured.

　　The National Committee for Disaster Reduction issued the highest-level national disaster relief response to cope with the earthquake. The committee decided to lift the level of the disaster relief response from grade III to I at 11 a.m. on August 4， around 18 hours after the earthquake occurred. Grade I is usually issued for “especially major natural disasters” in which more than 200 people are killed or more than 1 million people are relocated.

　　Flying to Zhaotong on August 4， Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived at Ludian to coordinate the rescue and relief efforts personally. As the road to Longquan was damaged， Li walked over 5 km to reach the village on that afternoon. He immediately visited a shelter for displaced people and a temporary clinic set up at a middle school， urging medical staff to try their best to save people’s lives.

　　By Li Li

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