A national disaster relief material storage base in Chengdu, Sichuan province, is ready to respond to disasters as they happen, said Jiang Bo, the facility head. The base, which was completed in 2011, is one of 17 throughout China.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs invested 241 million yuan ($39.4 million) to build the base, which occupies about 10.5 hectares of land.

The facility provides a storage capacity of 37,000 cubic meters. It also has a field of 20,000 square meters for use as a parking apron for helicopters.