Emergency Response

April 21, 2010

On April 14, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province, about 30 km from Gyêgu town (also known as Yushu), the administrative seat of the province. The earthquake has been followed by a series of aftershocks, and officials have warned that aftershocks above magnitude 5.5 are likely to continue.

Photo by karamibu*. Used under permission of Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic*.

Yushu County is located in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in the rugged terrain of the Tibetan highlands. The county's population of approximately 100,000 people is spread out over a vast area, with a relative concentration of people around Gyêgu town. Amity Foundation, a United Church partner, reports that the majority of the population are nomadic pastoralists, farmers, and traders with unstable incomes and limited capacity to recover without assistance from such a massive shock. Buildings are mostly simple structures of wood, earth, and brick.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency has reported that more than 400 people were killed and about 10,000 injured. According to local partners of Amity Foundation in the affected area, over 80 percent of the houses in the county have collapsed. Clear statistics on damages to infrastructure and the impact of the disaster are still emerging.

Amity Foundation reports that temporary shelter, clothing, quilts, food and drinking water, and medicine are immediately in high demand. It has been in close contact with local partners in the area since immediately after the earthquake. A six-person assessment team, including three staff members of Amity and three volunteers, have travelled to Yushu County to make a comprehensive assessment. Amity has begun preparing a preliminary appeal proposal which will be submitted to the Secretariat of the ACT Alliance, the network of churches and Christian aid agencies that enables global responses to emergencies, within the next few days.

For more information on the earthquake and to stay abreast of incoming reports from ACT and Amity, visit the ACT Alliance website.

United Church Response

The United Church of Canada will be working with other churches around the world through ACT, as well as its long time partner in China, Amity Foundation.

The United Church has sent C$40,000 to Amity Foundation to assist with its rapid respond initiative, which is being coordinated by ACT, to address the immediate needs of the affected population. Additional financial contributions will be considered as new information is received from ACT and Amity.

While the United Church has decided that at this point in time, it will not issue a formal appeal for assistance, the church will receive donations to its Emergency Response Fund and channel these through the ACT Alliance to provide a coordinated response.

Learn what United Church partner ACT Alliance is doing for China earthquake relief

How United Church Members Can Help

• Pray: Hold the people of Yushu County and other earthquake-affected areas in China in prayer.
• Donate: Designate a gift for "China Earthquake Relief." As part of the United Church's Emergency Response Fund, 85 percent of your donation will go directly to emergency response in China. Fifteen percent will be used to support emergencies that do not receive intense media coverage and response. No administration fees will be deducted from your donation. Regular donations to the Mission and Service Fund enable the United Church to absorb staffing and administration costs of emergency response work.
  
  Cheques and online donations should be made payable to The United Church of Canada and marked "China Earthquake Relief." Donations made by United Church members and congregations to China earthquake relief are considered "over and above" gifts to the United Church's wider work, so they are not recorded as part of a congregation's Mission and Service Fund giving, but they are eligible for tax receipts. Congregational treasurers may receive individual's cheques and then forward those cheques directly to The United Church of Canada, attention "China Earthquake Relief." The United Church will receipt the individual for all such donations.

For more information, contact:

• Bern Jagunos
  Program Coordinator for East and Southeast Asia
  Justice, Global and Ecumenical Relations Unit
  The United Church of Canada
  3250 Bloor St. West
  Toronto, ON  M8X 2Y4
  Tel: 416-231-7680, ext. 4077
  E-mail: Bern Jagunos
• Gary Kenny
  Program Coordinator, Emergency Response
  The United Church of Canada
  Tel: 416-231-7680 ext. 4051
  Toll-free: 1-800-268-3781 ext. 4051
  E-mail: Gary Kenny