Sometimes, the autorities are ready, sometime not; but It would appear from the data emerging around the tragedy that the response was quick and relatively effective, whith over 1 300 troops already deployed to control the aftermath and have already restored power to some areas and distributed relief food, blankets and medicine – t.d.

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The quake shook an arid, hilly farming area in northwest China, sparked landslides and destroyed or damaged thousands of brick-and-mud homes on Monday

The quake near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province toppled brick walls and telephone lines, shattered mud-and-tile-roofed houses and sent cascades of dirt and rock down hillsides that blocked roads and slowed rescue efforts by crews trying to reach remote areas.

Hospitals set up aid stations in parking lots to accommodate large numbers of injured, while hundreds of paramilitary People’s Armed Police fanned out to search for victims in the region of terraced farmland where the quake struck about 1,200 kilometers (760 miles) west of Beijing.

“I saw the bulb hanging from the ceiling start swinging wildly around. I woke my two friends and we ran into the bathroom to hide,” said arts student Li Jingui, 21, who was on the fourth floor of a school dormitory in Dingxi when the shaking started.

“After the strongest tremors were over, we were worried that there would be aftershocks so we packed our stuff and ran out into a large clearing,” Li said in a telephone interview.

Damage was worst in Min county in Dingxi’s rural southern portion, where scores of homes were damaged and telephone and electricity services knocked out, Dingxi Mayor Tang Xiaoming told state broadcaster CCTV. All but three of the deaths, all the missing and most of the injured were in Min, a likely result of shoddy construction.

Update

16:43 UTC : The provincial earthquake administration has released the following updated data (20:00 local) :
- fatalities and missing : unchanged
- injured : 628 people
- 22 counties affected
- 204 towns / villages affected
- 5,786 collapsed rooms
- Lanzhou Military Region sent 1322 military personnel in active duty
- Militia and reserve forces 1428 people
- medical and epidemic prevention unit : 65 people
- two helicopters have arrived and perform disaster relief missions
-  1620 armed police and rescue forces were dispatched
- 25 mobile telecommunications in 7 towns have been damaged. 4 are being repaired and are functioning again. Work is going ahead on 21 others.
- Relief goods are currently distributed and consist of food, tents, quilts, cotton-padded clothes, etc
-  great work has already been done and will go ahead the following hours, days and even weeks

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