Residents of quake-hit Jishishan rally around each other

LANZHOU — A month after an earthquake hit their hometown, Qin Sanhu and his wife, both in their 50s, are getting used to a new way of living in their new home — a prefab unit equipped with a stove.

"So far all is well. My biggest wish is that we can soon rebuild our hometown and move into new houses," said Qin.

Qin lives in Jishishan, Gansu province, which was struck by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Dec 18, leaving 151 people dead in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai province.

Timing is everything in terms of saving lives, especially in the mountainous plateau area during winter. Within 16 hours, emergency rescue teams had completed the preliminary search and rescue in the epicenter county.

Since it is winter, construction workers are busy day and night building prefab houses so that people impacted by the earthquake can move from tents to warmer structures as soon as possible.

In Jishishan, an 18-square-meter prefab house can be installed in roughly 10 minutes. With that speed, more than 3,500 prefab units were completed by Dec 23, and 15,812 by Dec 29.

"It only took two days for us to move from a tent to a warm prefab house. I was very relieved," said Tao Yongping, who lives in Taojia village of Liuji township.

"Timely and swift relief measures were soon in place. We will ensure the safety of people and their properties by improving the rescue efficiency," said Han Zhengming, head of the provincial department of emergency management in Gansu.

After the earthquake, a large number of relief goods have been sent to support the basic needs of those affected by the disaster. As for Qin, necessities such as toothpaste, washing powder, stoves as well as coal were allocated abundantly. "There is also a shared washing machine in the corridor," Qin said.

Medical and material distribution points have been set up for quake-affected residents at resettlement sites, as have temporary police offices, post offices and village committees.

Many quake-affected residents fought side by side with professional rescue teams, volunteering in rescuing, cooking and delivering materials. Many foreign volunteers also rushed to the quake-hit areas and participated in the rescue.

"When my country was hit by the earthquake, China was among the first to extend a helping hand," said Zein Alabdin Ali, adding that he regards China as his second home and would love to help with the earthquake relief work as much as possible.

The Syrian doctoral student has lived in China for years, and arrived in the quake-hit area two days after the quake.

In Songjiagou village, Shi Cangyou and his wife have barely gotten over the huge trauma inflicted by the disaster. Shi's house was badly damaged, and he had no choice but to tear it down.

"At that moment, I had a feeling that most of my life savings had gone," said Shi, with tears in his eyes.

The quake has caused enormous damage to infrastructure and houses. According to the local government, the damage assessment has been completed, and more than 300 post-disaster reconstruction projects have been proposed.

Shi also moved into a prefab unit. The local government has allocated living materials for the family. "My house was damaged, but I have a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear," said Shi.

While Jishishan's winter is too harsh to undertake large-scale construction projects, arrangements to facilitate people's long-term needs such as dwellings and employment have steadily advanced.

According to the local disaster recovery and reconstruction headquarters, reconstruction and repair of damaged houses are underway, and a series of free vocational training programs have been introduced at resettlement sites.

Wu Zhilin, 36, signed up for the electric soldering and became a trainee. "I take eight classes per day, and have learned a lot of useful skills. My wife also signed up for housekeeping training."

Planning to attend more training and then find a job, Wu has recovered from an initial period of distress and regained confidence in restarting his life.

Spring Festival is a few weeks away. At resettlement sites, residents have already pasted Spring Festival couplets and hung out red lanterns.

As in previous years, Shi's children and grandchildren will come home to celebrate the festival with them. Though it might be crowded in the prefab unit when they all come, Shi is very much looking forward to the reunion.

"This Lunar New Year will be better than the last one. I believe we will move into our new home in the new year," said Shi.

Xinhua