| The British Red Cross launched an appeal on 14 May to support the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s response to the China earthquake. The appeal has now closed and thanks to the generosity of everyone who donated, £4.4 million was raised.
On 12 May, a major earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale devastated eight provinces; Sichuan (the most severely affected), Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Yunnan, Shanxi, Guizhou and Hubei.
The earthquake was the worst to hit China since 1976 and tremors were felt as far as Bangkok, some 3,330 kilometres away.
The consequences were devastating:
- Around 374,000 injured
- More than 69,000 people killed
- Some 5,500 children became orphans
- More than 15 million people displaced with 4.5 million homeless.
In some towns, 80 per cent of buildings, including schools, hospitals and factories, were reduced to rubble. With health facilities and infrastructure destroyed, the World Health Organisation warned that shortages of clean water and warm, humid weather create serious risk of epidemics.
More about the China earthquake |
