Latest number from China Daily’s coverage shows death toll has risen to 200+ for the Yan’an (雅安) earthquake which occurred yesterday. The epicenter is not too far from the 5.12 quake that hit Sichuan back in 2008. Rescue operations is paramount during the first 72-hour window following the quake. China has already mobilized 8,000 troops with more on standby. This was a 7.0 magnitude quake, and though comparatively weaker than the 8.1 few years ago but still massive. For the 1.5 million people affected in Sichuan, and especially in Yan’an (雅安), we stand by you. 雅安我们和你在一起!
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Mister Unknown says
Are there links to charitable donation sites? Also, for those living in China, please do consider blood donations if anyone has the spare time.
Mister Unknown says
Never mind, got the answer to my own question above in the form of a LinkedIn message:
Group: China Job Openings, Career and Opportunities 中國招聘平台、外企高薪職位
Subject: 【支持雅安】向大家推荐通过”壹基金“支援灾区！
四川雅安地震牵动了许多人的心，不少人关心如何能够支持到灾区。比较了一下网上的各种慈善渠道，我向大家推荐李连杰发起的”壹基金“，运作透明可以信赖！
* 官博： http://weibo.com/yijijin （主页有有各种捐助途径）
* 官网： http://www.onefoundation.cn/
* 支付宝捐助： http://goo.gl/0mFVl （方便快捷，最低一元起）
【海外捐助】
* 壹基金Paypal捐助页面： http://goo.gl/bVyuI
（建议转告海外的朋友，支持透明和高效运作的中国第一家民间公募基金会，红十字会不是唯一的途径）
当然你也可以选择其它信得过的渠道和方式支持灾区。
* 如果你看到这条倡议，希望能够‘Like’或’Comment’，让更多的人看到和参与进来！
为灾区祈福！让爱心传递！
Thomas Zhou
——————-
Group Manager
Posted By Thomas Zhou
Hong Konger says
What’s happened, again, to the people of Sichuan is absolutely heartbreaking.
The problem is that it’s hard to know whom to trust with donations or help. There have already been scams related to the bird flu scare — like schools demanding “protection money” from parents and sham medical cures — which confuses and discourages people who genuinely want to help. Nothing angers me more than crooks out to cheat during a human disaster.
At the China Red Cross, there were allegations of government corruption, misused funds, even rich young women showing off their sports cars allegedly paid for with donations. I don’t know if these things are true, but it has certainly hurt the NGO. http://www.redcross.org.cn/hhzh/
If you are looking for private NGOs, consider Sichuan Quake Relief. http://sichuan-quake-relief.org/
China Daily is reporting that the One Foundation, founded by Jet Li, is already on the ground. I know they were active during the 2008 quake. Chinese site is currently updated. http://www.onefoundation.cn/
English one seems a bit out-of-date
http://dev.one-foundation.com/html/10/n-410.html
HK donors are already beginning to give, and I presume more will be on its way. Personally, I donate locally here.
The South China Morning Post is recommending the HK Red Cross, HK Oxfam and World Vision. Contacts and bank details are here, though I don’t know how easy it is outside HK: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1219514/hong-kong-responds-generously-after-latest-sichuan-earthquake
Of course, you could also give to your local branches of the Red Cross, Oxfam, World Vision, where-ever in the world you are.
This US-based charity seems legit, though I’ve never had contact with them before. http://give2asia.org
Hong Konger says
The Taiwanese seem to be donating generously, though this article doesn’t give much practical info on how you can donate, too.
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aall/201304210009.aspx
Hong Konger says
UNICEF says it’s mobilizing aid to Sichuan. http://en.prnasia.com/story/78093-0.shtml
http://www.unicef.cn
Hong Konger says
I’ve also just read that the Chinese govenrment said “thanks, but no thanks” for foreign government aid at the moment. If this is true, maybe that is why I’m mostly reading just about HK and Taiwan donations. Seems like not a good time to be proud about this sort of thing.
Here in HK, coverage is wall-to-wall Sichuan, and it’s awful to see.
There are 11,500+ injured — and no area can easily handle that, even in a developed country. They will need medical care — drugs, mobile facilities, doctors, nurses — as well as emergency shelter, food rations, water sanitation, etc. Time is of the essense as they search for survivors, and they will need as many rescuers are they can get on the ground. This is no snub to the PLA, who seem to be doing a good job.
Repairs to infrastructure will take a long, long time after, as the county deals with people who have lost homes or jobs, or who need long-term medical care or rehab.
Maybe, if you want to be sure about your aid, you can wait a few days to see what sorts of longer-term help is needed. I also read that, because of the difficult terrain, much aid is “stuck in traffic”. So even if you sent a blanket or canned food, it might not get to people immediately.
Hong Konger says
OK — last message! Mercy Corp have been doing work in Sichuan since the 2008 quake, and are still active there.
http://www.mercycorps.org/articles/china/assessing-emergency-needs-after-deadly-earthquake-sichuan-province
YinYang says
Hong Konger and Mr. Unknown – thanks for the charity links. To our readers, if you are able to help, please do. China is still a very poor country. I’ve traveled from Chengdu to Juzhaigou by car in 2006 and saw first hand how poor the people were in Sichuan. In their rush towards modernity, ordinary people are still very ignorant on how to build sturdy homes, let alone able to withstand 7.0 or 8.1 magnitude quakes.
We may condemn shoddy construction, but the key solution is in China’s socioeconomic progress. Better education, more material wealth, more transparency, more rule of law, etc are what’s required to lift everything up.
Your monetary donations work towards that.
We won’t be able to fully vette these charities for our readers. Our “China Charities” page has charities we have spent time looking into – some of which we have donated to ourselves.
N.M.Cheung says
Just returned from a tour of Jiuzhaigou. We were in a tour bus when the quake occurred on Saturday morning. The tour guide got the news on his smart phone and we were immediately appraised of the situation. All traffic was force exited from the expressway from the next exit as the highway was reserved for police and emergency vehicles. There was some traffic jam as we learned a private vehicle with a blown tire forced an ambulance off the road, causing casualties, as a result all private vehicles were banned near the quake area. The roads in the mountain areas were 2 lanes with sharp cliff rising on one side and the other side Mian River, some attempt were make with concrete or steel nettings to prevent rock slides, but landslides are inevitable during quakes and heavy rain, Area are very scenic yet dangerous to travel as heavy trucks pass each other with no room to spare as no shoulder area or passing lane exist.
YinYang says
@N.M.Cheung
Thanks for checking in with some details. Glad to hear you are ok. Hope you have time to write more. Email Allen or me if you’d like to make posts.
Hong Konger says
If you happen to be in China, please do not try to volunteer to go into the disaster zone.
The area has been flooded by well-meaning, if hapless, “volunteers” — mostly misguided young patriots who have been moved by the media coverage, but then show up with no food, no water, no experience in disaster recovery or charity work, no medical skill.
The troops and resecuers, who are overworked enough, now have to shoo away these people, who are blocking up the precious few roads leading to villages — some of which STILL do not have enough tents, water, etc.
I’m sure most have the best of intentions. (A few are “disaster gawkers,” but I think they are in the minority).
As much as we’d all like to get our hands dirty when we see a disaster like this, consider donating money or goods instead.