Authorities use Internet to smooth disaster relief

BEIJING - Since the 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Qinghai province last Wednesday, a small group of officials at the China Earthquake Administration in Beijing have been busy on their computers.

Their job is to update a micro-blog with the latest developments of the rescue work by the China International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) in the quake zone.

The first entry was published on the micro-blog at 8:46 am last Wednesday, less than an hour after the tremor in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Yushu, and more than 300 entries have followed.