Chinese medical relief team heading to quake area

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese international medical relief team is heading to the 7.0-magnitude quake-hit areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The team, which consists of 19 doctors from the General Hospital of Armed Police Forces, will be taking surgery equipment and more than 5,000 types of medicine to the quake-hit region.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has dispatched relief materials to the ground, including 30,000 tents, 50,000 cotton blankets and 10,000 make-shift beds.

Other central government ministries are also carrying out relief work.

Earlier the National Health and Family Planning Commission has dispatched a national medical emergency response team consisting of more than 180 doctors to the ground.

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has also dispatched a command team to the ground.

The MPS command center reported that the Chengya expressway connecting Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, and Ya'an was clear for traffic.

Sichuan provincial transportation authority has imposed traffic controls on several expressways and routes leading to the epicenter and all roads in quake-hit areas, according to the MPS.

The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has launched an emergency response, ordering the update of latest weather conditions for the quake-hit region.

The CMA has also ordered close satellite monitoring of the quake-hit region and disaster analysis.

The CMA's National Meteorological Center forecasted that it will mainly be overcast in Lushan, the epicenter, during the next three days. It will rain occasionally with slight winds, and the temperature will between 16 and 23 degrees Celsius.

A work team comprising of officials from eight ministries, including civil affairs, health, transport and others, has rushed to the epicenter to direct quake-relief work.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Lushan county of Ya'an City in southwest Sichuan Province at 8:02 a.m. Saturday Beijing time.

The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) reported that as of 4 p.m, 516 aftershocks had been detected, including two above 5.0 magnitude, 12 between 4.0 and 4.9 magnitude, and 27 between 3.0 and 3.9 magnitude.