Many roads were blocked and inaccessible to vehicles. "It would take more than 10 hours to cover a distance that took two or three hours before the quake. And there were frequent aftershocks."

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, four rescue teams from Japan, Russia, Republic of Korea (ROK) and Singapore participated in the quake rescue task.

Nine medical teams with 223 members from countries including Britain, Japan, Russia, Italy, France, Cuba, Indonesia, Pakistan and Germany were working in quake-hit Sichuan and Gansu provinces. They had treated more than 6,400 patients.

According to the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will send four emergency response units to China's quake areas.

The Red Cross Societies in Austria, Spain, Britain and Denmark will be in charge of forming the units.

Austrian and Spanish units would bring water-purification facilities, the British unit would offer medical services and help build public toilets while the Danes would help set up working and residence camps for relief workers.