Foreign and Military Affairs

Chinese rescuers on standby for relief

By Qiu Bo, Wu Yiyao and Peng Yining (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-12 06:35

BEIJING / SHANGHAI - Chinese rescue workers are on standby to fly to Japan after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake unleashed a destructive tsunami.

The powerful tremor that struck off Japan's Pacific coast on Friday was felt in China's eastern coastal region and as far away as Beijing, but Chinese authorities said the country faced no threat of a "disastrous" tsunami.

Chen Jianmin, director of the China Earthquake Administration, said authorities had put relief personnel, equipment and medicine in place, "ready to depart for Japan at any time", Xinhua News Agency reported.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu also echoed the comments.

China is well versed in disaster relief work, particularly with earthquakes. A massive 8-magnitude tremor hit the southwestern province of Sichuan in May 2008, leaving nearly 87,000 dead or missing.

Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday conveyed China's condolences to Japan over the tragedy and expressed willingness to offer help. In a phone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Wen said that on behalf of the Chinese government he extended deep condolences to the Japanese government and people.

China is ready to provide Japan with necessary assistance to deal with the aftermath of this devastating natural disaster, he said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also offered condolences in a phone conversation with his Japanese counterpart, Takeaki Matsumoto.

The National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center at one point issued a blue tsunami alert and advised local governments along China's east coast to warn residents to stay away from the shore.

Zhang Rongjun, spokesman of China Maritime Search and Rescue Center, told China Daily on Friday his center had not received any missions.

Taiwan authorities said on Friday that minor tsunamis set off by the earthquake in Japan reached the island's coastline without causing any damage.

Waves about 10 centimeters high hit Taiwan's east and northeast coasts in the evening, the local weather bureau reported. It later lifted its tsunami warning.

Earlier on Friday, schools and offices in several coastal cities were closed, while coastguards patrolled ports and told fishermen to take shelter on land, officials said.

The tsunami reached Xiamen, a coastal city in East China's Fujian province, on Friday night but did not cause any damage.

"The government warned ships to stop offshore operations and rig the wires," said Zheng Rongmin, deputy director of Xiamen maritime department's control center.

On Friday, office workers in the Chinese capital, more than 2,500 kilometers from the earthquake's epicenter, reported via chat rooms that they had felt the tremor. However, no injuries or damage were immediately reported in China.

Beijing's seismological bureau said it had received reports from residents across the city who said they felt the earthquake. Many white-collar workers in skyscrapers also posted messages about their experiences on micro blogs.

"I was in the bathroom when the tremor came. When I came back to my office, all my colleagues had fled as they thought it was an earthquake," Chen Xin, a 37-year-old working in Dongcheng district's Fifth Piazza, told China Daily.

Wang Jianjun, spokesman for Shanghai Seismological Bureau, said it is normal for residents in high-rises to feel quakes in Shanghai.

"I was dizzy and had a strong feeling the building was shaking," said Shanghai resident Lin Jinying, who works at an office building in the central Xujiahui district.

Due to the disrupted telecommunications in Japan, many Chinese posted micro blogs to find their loved ones.

A micro blog, which had been shared 2,920 times as of 9:30 pm, was set up to find 28-year-old Tan Lili, an exchange doctoral candidate from Zhejiang University to Sendai.

Two Air China flights were delayed as Tokyo's Narita International Airport was closed after the tremor. CA 926 took off at 8:42 pm for Beijing, and Shanghai-bound flight CA930 departed at 7:25 pm.

Air China said they canceled five scheduled flights from Beijing and Shanghai to Tokyo.

The Ministry of Commerce has called on Chinese enterprises with operations in Japan to ensure their workers are safe. Companies should keep in close contact with China's consulate and embassies in Japan, and hold off sending staff members to earthquake-hit areas, the ministry said in an emergency statement on its website.

Xin Dingding and Shi Yingying contributed to this story.