Xi urges all-out relief work after SW China quake

Rescue workers, along with local residents, try to save people buried under the rubble, after an earthquake hit Changning county of Yibin city, Southwest China's Sichuan province, June 18, 2019. (Photo provided to China News Service)

President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out efforts to organize relief work and rescue the injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday night.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, demanded in a written instruction that authorities give priority to searching the people and rescuing those injured, and minimize casualties.

To date, the quake has left 13 people dead, 199 others injured and more than 140,000 residents affected after it struck Changning County of Yibin City at 10:55 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time).

Xi asked the People's Liberation Army and the armed police force to support and cooperate with local governments in rescue and relief work.

He stressed adopting a scientific approach to rescue operations, strengthening quake monitoring, guarding against secondary disasters, restoring water and electricity supply, transportation and telecommunication as soon as possible, and properly settling the affected people.

Noting that heavy rainfall in some parts of the country has triggered floods, landslides and other disasters amid the current flood season, Xi asked local authorities to take precautions and carry out rescue operations to ensure the safety of the people's lives and property.

Premier Li Keqiang, in another written instruction, also required immediate and all-out efforts to verify the disaster situation, organize relief work and rescue the injured.

Ordering rapid rebuilding of damaged transportation and telecommunication infrastructure, the premier stressed timely information release and maintaining stable social order in quake-stricken areas.

The Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Natural Resources should instruct and assist local authorities in guarding against and responding to natural disasters triggered by torrential rain during the flood season, Li said.