China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has deployed three carrier aircraft to transport rescuers and relief materials to the quake-hit Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in western China's Qinghai Province.

Two Il-76 aircraft will airlift rescuers and equipment from the national earthquake rescue team in Beijing, while another will carry 100 rescuers from China's mine exploration team, stationed in Chengdu, to the quake-hit Yushu prefecture.

The PLA air force has also ordered 1,500 of its airborne forces and 100 parachute troops to prepare to assist in rescue operations in the quake zone.

About 300 people have died and 8,000 others were injured after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province early Wednesday.

Many others are still buried under the debris of collapsed houses near the epicenter. More than 85 percent of the houses in Jiegu Township, near the epicenter, had collapsed.

Rescue teams from the central government, neighboring areas and armed forces are on their way to northwest China's Qinghai Province.

A 15-member rescue team from the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) left Beijing on a flight to Qinghai at 11:40 a.m., the CEA said in a statement to Xinhua.

In addition, a 62-member rescue team of the provincial earthquake department in Qinghai was en route to Yushu, a Tibetan autonomous prefecture in western Qinghai, while 40 rescuers had been dispatched from Qamdo, in neighboring Tibet, the statement said.

Rescuers in neighboring Gansu, Shaanxi, Xinjiang and Ningxia were also on the way to the region, according to the CEA.

The armed police headquarters had ordered 600 officers, stationed in Yushu, to take part in the rescue work and 2,100 more officers in Qinghai were on stand by, according to a headquarters spokesman.

The Lanzhou military command has sent one of its top medical teams, including six vehicles and 31 medical workers specialized in high-altitude operations, the military command headquarters told Xinhua.

Army personnel stationed in Yushu had been ordered to help with rescue work immediately and a regiment stationed in Xining, the Qinghai provincial capital, were en route to the region, the sources said.

In addition, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a press release that it would send 5,000 tents, 50,000 cotton coats and 50,000 quilts to the quake-hit region.

The provincial government had also arranged to send 5,000 tents, the statement said.?