The scale of the devastation in Sichua Province, China has been tremendous. Reports can't keep with the news of more wounded, dead and dying residents of this largely agricultural region. The earthquake that struck was especially deadly because it was shallow, 6 miles in depth, and a fairly powerful magnitude 7.9. It was felt strongly in the capital with office workers running into streets in Beijing 930 miles to the north. With over 50,000 estimated dead (and rising by the day)it is already in the top 15 deadliest quakes since records were kept.
The scale of the tragedy and pain is hard to grasp but we can only cry when we hear of the pain of the people of Dujiangyan whose Xinjian Elementary School collapsed and killed about 400 kids. The horrible tale in Dujiangyan City at the Juyuan Middle School where most of the 900 teens lost their lives as the building collapsed entirely over them. The scale of the destruction will only be known after weeks of recovery.
The screams of the moms and dads will hover for centuries over these places of sorrow.
The area was a mountainous area with roads having to wind slowly through narrow passes over precipices to isolated towns and cities. Despite the tremendous effort of the Chinese government many survivors were left with nothing to protect them as rains rolled in and without food or water as the infrastructure was destroyed.
Chengdu the capital is a city of 11 million and was located about 60 miles from the epicenter if the quake. The greatest destruction was in the small cities and towns where the construction of buildings, schools, hospitals and homes was not up to current codes for this type of destruction.
NPR has been running a very heart wrenching series of live reports on All Things Considered as they had a team reporting on China when the earthquake struck. Melissa Block and Robert Segal were on site. They headed to the area and I feel their reports best capture the essence of the problem and drive us to do something to help the Chinese in their hour of need. Don't miss listening to Melissa Block's story.
The Chinese government has been open the press coverage by the international community and has shown tremendous determination to bring aid and comfort to the stricken areas. The problem is monstrous though.
Here is a series of images from the entire area which include a few scenes from the schools. The images are from the AP and Reuters.
Organizations involved in the rescue and support:
American Red Cross
P.O. Box 4002018
Des Moines, IA 50340-2018
Designate donation on check memo line
800-435-7669
http://american.redcross.org
Church World Service
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN, 46515
Please designate: Appeal # 699-B, 2008 China Earthquake Response
800-297-1516
https://secure.churchworldservice.org
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
P.O. Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland
+41 22 730 42 22
http://donate.ifrc.org
Mercy Corps China Earthquake Fund
Dept NR PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208
1.800.852.2100
http://www.mercycorps.org
World Vision
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, WA 98063-9716
1.888.511.6548
http://donate.wvus.org