None of the Bethany representatives were near the quake areas. They had been to several cities near the most affected areas, including Chengdu.

“What worries me most is that the emergency/safety infrastructure is quite haphazard in the developed areas we are living in, and especially so in the more underdeveloped regions where the earthquake happened,” she wrote in an e-mail to Kathy Bruss, wife of Bethany President Daniel Bruss. “This, coupled with dense populations, erratic distribution networks, limited health services, and censorship of the media can very quickly exacerbate the ill effects of catastrophic events.

“On the other hand, the Chinese are a very caring people and do their best to act in a manner that is responsive and helpful.”

Juliet Zhang, a Minnesota State University student from Chongqing, China, has family living near the epicenter of the quake. They’re all OK, and Zhang says the quake didn’t do much damage in her hometown. The next province over, though, wasn’t so lucky.

“Some school (administrators in Chongqing) are afraid of the aftershock, so they made the students sleep outside instead of the dorms, since Chongqing only has tall buildings more than 10 floors,” she said in an e-mail to Tom Gjersvig, director of International Student and Scholar Services.

Robb Murray writes for Mankato (Minn.) Free Press.