Relief agencies in the US state of California are ramping up their responses to the magnitude-7.8 earthquake in China by collecting funds and supplies for victims, officials with several groups said Tuesday.

Operation USA, a Los Angeles-based international relief agency, is among the groups that are gathering money and contributions of life-sustaining products.

"Our primary focus is on collecting money right now," said Operation USA Director Richard Walden. "The Chinese Army is very good at handling this first stage of recovery, and they don't want a bunch of relief people running around underfoot."

Walden said his group's focus in China will be on rebuilding schools and clinics. Those efforts, he said, won't begin until this initial rescue phase is completed.

"That won't start for a couple of weeks. Once the military has rescued everyone they can and it's time to move into the recovery phase, they will turn the effort over to provincial authorities," Walden said.

His agency will then partner with a Chinese civil society organization to begin the reconstruction planning.

"We're not sure who our partner or partners will be. But we're looking into that right now," he said.

After that, the next step would be sending in people, Walden said. "We need to meet the people in the organization, go over the construction plans, meet the construction people, too. We make sure everything is real. We never just send over money," he said.

Walden said that 98 cents of every dollar collected is spent directly on relief efforts.

He said his group has received a donation of 70,000 dollars from Honeywell Company as well as an unspecified matching-style donation from a disaster fund.

Operation USA has worked in the affected areas before.

"We were there in the 1980s and worked in some of the hospitals," Walden said.

Walden said people can donate to USA online at www.opusa.org or by phone at (800) 678-7255. Checks can be mailed to Operation USA at 3617 Hayden Ave., Suite A, Culver City, 90232.

As for the goods they are collecting, Walden said their focus is on corporate donations of pharmaceuticals, water purification kits and plastic tarps for shelter.

Joseph Cabral, communications director for the Southern California headquarters of the Salvation Army, said his organization began collecting money almost immediately after the quake.

"The Salvation Army has been working in China for over 80 years," Cabral said. "We have offices open and people working over there right now."

Cabral said the Salvation Army is only focused on collecting money at this point. But he has no idea how much has been donated so far.

"All the donations will be sent to our international arm and dispersed overseas to China," he said, adding that all of the money collected for this disaster would be sent to China.

"But it's very important that people write on their checks that it's a donation for the survivors of the Sichuan earthquake," he said. "That will ensure the money is spent only on that relief effort."

People, Cabral explained, can donate online to the Salvation Army's Chinese earthquake relief fund by going to www.salvationarmy.usawest.org. They can also call (800) SAL-ARMY. Checks can be mailed to the Salvation Army's Southern California Headquarters, 900 W. James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, 90015.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)