China Mobilizes Resources to Support Quake-Hit Sichuan Province

On Monday, at least 66 people died as a result of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Luding and neighboring regions. Fifteen people were missing and 253 were injured. Sichuan has activated the highest level of emergency response for the earthquake

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The province of Sichuan, which is home to 84 million people, activated the maximum level of emergency. In just few hours, local authorities mobilized 6,500 rescuers.

The aftershocks of the earthquake damaged some roads, which made it difficult for rescuers to reach the most affected towns. On Tuesday morning, authorities reported that power had been restored to 22,000 homes that were cut off by the earthquake.

The Ministries of Finance and Emergency Management allocated some US$7.25 million to support rescue and relief efforts. So far, around 50,000 people have been evacuated.

Authorities also applied its Gaofen series satellites to help with relief work. Over 10 satellites were deployed to capture images of the quake-hit areas 10 minutes after the earthquake jolted Sichuan's Luding County at 12:52 p.m.

The Gaofen-3 satellites obtained synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the quake-hit areas, which helped experts analyze data and learn more about the damage situation in these areas.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) will continue to dispatch civil and commercial satellites to support disaster prevention and relief efforts, and provide spatial information support for disaster monitoring and decision-making