Earthquake-prone China is stepping up the establishment of
emergency rescue teams across the country in an effort to save
lives during temblors, a leading official of the China
Seismological Bureau said Sunday.
"We have launched six provincial search-and-rescue squads and
are close to creating two regional branches directly under the
national team in southwest and northwest China," Xu Deshi, director
of the bureau's earthquake disaster emergency response department,
said in Beijing.
China is in dire need of more local rescue and relief teams in
addition to a Beijing-based national team, given the country's vast
area, Xu told China Daily.
China withstood many earthquakes, including 27 quakes measuring
5.0 or above on the Richter scale in 2003. In 2002 nine jolted the
Chinese mainland, the worst since 1996, according to the latest
bureau statistics.
The 2003 tremors killed 319 people, injuring 7,147 others, and
affected the lives of 2.98 million people while causing 4.46
billion yuan (US$537.34 million) in damage, said Li Qianghua,
spokesman of the bureau.
In light of the crucial role rescue teams can play in saving
lives and rendering humanitarian services following natural
disasters, governments at various levels are ardent about putting
such teams in place, Xu said.
"With six provincial teams in Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning,
Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan, a dozen of other provinces and
autonomous regions are in the process of launching their own
squads," Xu said.
In addition, emergency search-and-rescue teams formed by
volunteers have been established in Shanxi, Fujian provinces and
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, he said.
Xu said he hopes such teams will proliferate throughout
China.
The China National Earthquake Disaster Emergency
Search-and-Rescue Team, which was set up in April 2001, will
provide training to such local groups, said Xu, who is the team
leader.
The 221-member national contingent consists of a military
engineering unit, seismologists and medical staff, all of whom are
equipped with advanced tools for searches and rescues, medical
treatment, as well as canine search teams, he said.
In particular, the national seismological bureau is pushing for
the early formation of two branches in southwest and northwest
China, areas vulnerable to tremors, he said.
The official said his bureau has reached consensus with the
military for earlier launch times for regional teams in western
parts of China.
The only problem at present is funding, he said, giving no
specific timetable for improving fiscal issues.
The scale of the regional and provincial teams will each
encompass 120 to 140 members, he said.
Apart from rescue missions within the country, the China team
also actively participates in on-site operations abroad, said
Xu.
China joined the International Search-and-Rescue Group (INSARAG)
in 2001, and has trained its national team in the Netherlands,
Switzerland and Singapore, according to Xu.
The national team just returned from a mission in Bam, Iran,
where a devastating earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale
on December 26 killed more than 30,000 people.
The 38-member team was among the first to Bam. They had found
and dug out more than 20 bodies.
(China Daily January 12, 2004)