The China International Search & Rescue Team (CISAR) has launched a major earthquake drill in China as 62 of its members carry out relief work in Nepal.
The drill, which the CISAR said is its most comprehensive since the organization's founding in 2001, involves a fictional 6.6-magnitude quake in Baoding City of north China's Hebei Province. Some 480 regular and reserve members and 18 sniffer dogs were dispatched early Thursday from the CISAR's base in Beijing for the epicenter, according to a CISAR statement.
The drill will test the abilities of a command group and nine rescue divisions in preparation, mobilization, communication, data collection, maintenance, search and rescue and retreat.
CISAR head Wang Wei said the operation will hone the team's efficiency. "When the chips are down, we need to be able to lend real help," Wang said.
The CISAR has been engaged in multiple search and rescue missions including the ones after the Wenchuan quake in 2008 and the Haiti quake in 2010.
