China is one of the countries in the world subject to the most severe natural disasters. They come in various types, with high frequency and heavy losses. Several places have held drills ahead of the May 12th, the National Disaster Prevention and Reduction Day.

An earthquake prevention and relief drill was held on Tuesday in Yibin, Sichuan province. More than 12 hundred professional staff took part. The scenario was that Longxi County in Yibin was hit by magnitude-6.3 quake at 7:50 am. Seven counties were affected, with houses collapsed and damaged, people and cars buried, and roads and communications blocked. The rescue team responded immediately. Students in Dangshan County in Anhui Province held a fire drill.

"We mainly show how we use the elevating platform fire truck to do a rescue mission. We have ropes, a multifunctional stretcher and a descent control device which are very practical and helpful," Leng Lean, director of Yibin's Pingcui District Firefighting Division, said.

"I learned a lot of self-rescue and escape skills through this drill. If something like this happen to us in the future, I think we can cope with it," Student Wen Zeqing said.