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In less than three days after the 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Qinghai Province, northwest China, a task force dispatched by the Ministry of Emergency Management said rescue work was nearing completion and relief efforts were now underway.
On Tuesday, the county opened a hotline so affected residents can call and report their losses and the hardships that need to be addressed.
Electricity and water supplies have resumed in makeshift shelters, and all primary and secondary schools in Mado County have resumed classes starting Monday.
The earthquake, which struck Madao County in the Gulog Tibet Autonomous Region at 2:04 a.m. last Saturday, slightly injured 18 people and disrupted the lives of more than 32,000 residents of 26 towns in Gulog and the Yushu Tibet Autonomous Region.
The numbers contrast with what they were 11 years ago, when a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Yushu, destroying the town of Jeju plateau and killing more than 2,600 people.
In addition to the fact that the Gullug earthquake occurred in sparsely populated pastoral areas, improving housing conditions – as a result of local poverty alleviation efforts – likely reduced losses and losses of assets.
As of 3 pm on Monday, 893 homes in Hwangi town center had been damaged without collapsing. At an altitude of 4,300 meters, the town has more than 3,000 residents.
“Housing improvement has demonstrated the achievement of targeted poverty alleviation efforts,” said Tian Kaixiu, head of Maduo’s Development and Poverty Alleviation Bureau.
Tian said that the county had more than 1,700 poor families registered as of 2015, and the shepherds’ homes were mostly mud and wood.
Between 2016 and 2017, more than 1,500 poor families moved into new homes as part of China’s resettlement efforts to alleviate poverty. New brick and concrete homes can withstand an 8-magnitude earthquake.
The government has pumped 585 million yuan (91.3 million US dollars) into infrastructure for transportation projects. The infrastructure includes fortified roads, public toilets, power supplies and community service centers, Tian said.
According to Dotar, Huanghe Town Party Chairman, apart from safe houses, the timely emergency response also helped reduce personnel and asset losses.
Just 16 minutes after the earthquake, the provincial government activated a level 2 emergency response to the major earthquake disaster.
Transport authorities have launched a crisis plan to ensure emergency traffic to the earthquake-stricken area runs smoothly. Power supply personnel mobilized to repair damaged power lines, and firefighters rushed to the scene to rescue them immediately.
Yu Winpin, a local armed police officer, said that more than 180 armed policemen helped rescue a stranded person and three cars. They also searched more than 60 dilapidated homes and set up nearly 800 tents to temporarily resettle residents.
Duttar said about 140 party cadres were organized to take part in the rescue operations, and police, firefighters and militia were mobilized to join.
“We put people’s interests first and spare no effort to minimize losses,” Duttar said.
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