LESS than two years after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake, a 7.1 magnitude quake struck remote Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province on April 14, 2010, leaving 2,220 dead, 10,000 or more injured and 70 missing.

As China is no stranger to natural disasters the country has a tried, tested and efficient emergency response mechanism. The Yushu temblor was less intense than that in Wenchuan, but high altitude -- more than 4,000 meters above sea level -- chilly weather, thin air and mountainous terrain nonetheless impeded rescue and relief efforts.

All-out rescue effort

Saving lives was uppermost in the thoughts of the whole nation when reports of the earthquake first came through. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao made public vows that no effort would be spared to help quake victims. Vice Premier Hui Liangyu arrived at the seismic epicenter of Jiegu Town at around 8 pm on April 14 to set up and lead the national quake relief command. Premier Wen Jiabao postponed planned visits to three Asian countries to fly to Yushu the day after the quake, and President Hu Jintao cut short his state visit to South America and arrived in Yushu four days later to offer quake victims his personal support.

Thirty minutes after the quake, central government organs, including China Earthquake Administration, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Public Security, activated their grade I response measures to mobilize and dispatch rescue workers and aid supplies from all over the nation to the quake zone. The central budget allocated on April 14 a relief fund of RMB 200 million and a few days later added another RMB 300 million to rescue efforts, and the National Development and Reform Commission approved an appropriation of RMB 50 million.

As always at times of national disaster, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and armed police took a leading role in rescue work. Both of their Yushu garrisons arrived at rescue sites ten minutes after the quake, and reinforcements from the provincial command and from other parts of China, such as Sichuan and Xinjiang, soon joined them. Military planes carrying rescue equipment and crew took off 21 minutes after receiving orders from the Air Force. The navy also dispatched remote-controlled aircrafts to the prefecture to collect data needed for research and rescue work on the ground.

Helping hands from neighboring regions were among the first to arrive in the quake zone. A group of 65 rescuers and seismologists from Qamdo in Tibet began making their way to Yushu only two hours after the disaster. A team of 49 first aid workers from Garze in Sichuan arrived in the prefecture six hours after the quake just as another team in Gansu Province was setting out.

Having lived through the Wenchuan earthquake, China has developed a rapid response mechanism for dealing with national and international emergencies. "The Yushu quake highlights once again the strength of the socialist system in pooling all possible resources amid situations of immense, acute and sudden crisis. This has been proven in Haiti," said Dr. Wu Hongying, head of the Institute for Latin America Studies of China Institute of Contemporary International Relations. The well-equipped Chinese national rescue team took off a few hours after the Haiti earthquake on January 13, and was among the first rescue missions to reach the island nation.

The PLA will establish eight emergency response forces of 50,000 by the end of 2010, according to Tian Yixiang, director of the Emergency Response Office under the Headquarters of the General Staff.