Vice Premier outlines timetable for quake rescue

YUSHU, Qinghai, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu Thursday specified timetable for rescue work in Yushu of northwestern Qinghai Province which was hit by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake.

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu (C) talks with local residents in the Tibetan  Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai Province, April 15, 2010.  The State Council of China has set up a quake-relief headquarters, with Vice Premier  Hui Liangyu as the head, to take care of disaster relief, epidemic prevention,  seismic monitoring and public security. Hui arrived the quake-hit region Wednesday to  comfort local people and supervise the disaster relief work. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

Transport and communication facilities should be restored in 24 hours since the quake occurred Wednesday morning, a task that has been achieved, Hui said at a meeting held by the quake relief headquarters in Yushu's Gyegu Town near the quake's epicenter.

Electricity and petrol supply should be guaranteed within 48 hours, especially in important venues including the quake relief headquarters and hospitals, a statement released after the meeting said.

Within 48 hours, all quake-affected people should get access to tents to spend the night.

All people seriously injured in the quake should be transferred to other places including Xining, Chengdu, Lanzhou, and hospitals run by the People's Liberation Army for treatment within 72 hours, according to the statement.

Each bereaved household would get 5,000 yuan (732 U.S. dollars) from the central budget, it said.

The central budget would give each impoverished quake-affected person a daily subsidy of 10 yuan and 0.5 kilogram of food for about three months, it said.

And each quake-affected resident who was forced to be relocated would receive a subsidy of 150 yuan, according to the statement.

The headquarters ordered enhanced efforts in rescuing people hit by Wednesday's quake to ensure no "blind spot" was left out.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, has set up a quake-relief headquarters, with Hui as the head, to take care of disaster relief, epidemic prevention, seismic monitoring and public security.

Authorities should use various channels to ensure food and drinking water supply for the quake-hit people and step up epidemic prevention in the quake zone, the statement said.

Wednesday's earthquake has left more than 600 people dead in the region and about 100,000 people were relocated.