Military officials said that as of 1:14 p.m. on Tuesday, 19,339 militias have departed for quake-stricken areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The General Staff Department (GSD) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) said that the Military Area Command in Sichuan has mobilized 7,138 militias who will soon depart for the area.

The first batch of 1,300 rescue and relief troops arrived on Tuesday in Wenchuan County, the epicenter of Monday's quake, and started operations in rain.

Tens of thousands of military forces and armed police have joined in the disaster relief effort. As of Tuesday noon, China had dispatched about 20,000 armed police for relief effort.

The 7.8-magnitude quake left 9,219 known deaths in Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Yunnan, Shanxi, Guizhou and Hubei, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a release issued at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)