A Test of Chinese Emergency Work

A Test of Chinese Emergency Work
- The Rescue Performance in 4-20 Sichuan Earthquake

Eighty hours after the 7 degree earthquake in Richter scale hit Ya An, in Chinese Sichuan Province, 193 people are confirmed dead and 25 missing.  However at the same time, the thousands lives have been saved due to the endeavors of the Chinese army and rescuers, as well as the facilities of modern emergency equipment and technology. 

Compared with 5 years ago when the powerful 8-degree Earthquake devastated Sichuan Wenchuan, China’s rescue teams are more experienced, more focused and more organized.  Despite these apparent achievements, a few shortcomings, however, are also reported from the front line.  One is the shortage of clean drinking water supply.  As lack of emergency water-purification equipment, people heavily rely on the bottled water or tanked water, which are transported from outside through the only narrow and jammed mountain road.  The second is the insufficient means of telecommunications in the early hour of earthquake when all regular installment of telecommunications system were damaged and became malfunctioned. When the earthquake took place on the morning of April 20, the communication between Baoxing County and outside have been completely ceased for 12 hours.  Nobody knew the situation inside Baoxing County of Ya An, until two sets of INMARSAT telephone were air-dropped there.  Third is the insufficient supply of temporary shelters and camps.

A few villagers received their drinking water from water-purification equipment