QUAKE AID: Chinese from surrounding rural towns help survivors in any way they can, from ladling porridge to donating clothes. Meanwhile, the government asks for people’s patience.

Monday’s 7.9-magnitude earthquake injured more than 64,000 people in China’s Sichuan Province. Aid workers work against the clock to find an estimated 25,000 people still trapped beneath the rubble. The first shipment of international aid arrived yesterday from Russia.

China’s Outpouring of Help

People from all over the region pitched in any way they could to help quake survivors. They walked, rode their bicycles, or drove their cars to reach the hardest-hit areas.

In Mianyang, where 10,000 survivors took refuge in a sports stadium, volunteers poured in from surrounding rural communities. Mostly poor farmers, they brought what they could, from clothing to food and water that they served from their pedicabs or improvised stands.

Government Asks for Earthquake Survivors’ Patience

Authorities closed the road leading into Beichuan to give survivors there a chance to leave the devastated town. Many of them headed toward the stadium in Mianyang.

Government radio broadcasts asked survivors to be patient and assured them help was on the way. It also asked for donations of food and water, equipment, and blood. About 100,000 relief workers are on the scene now. They include medical teams, soldiers and police.

A break in the rainy weather allowed the air force to drop more than 9 tons of supplies to Wenchuan and surrounding areas yesterday. Survivors in Wenchuan need an estimated 35 tons of food every day. They also need medicine and tents.

Area Aftershocks Block Rescues

Yesterday a 5.4-magnitude quake hit the same area as Monday’s quake. These aftershocks continue, making rescue efforts difficult and forcing survivors to leave buildings they fear may collapse. Instead, they huddle in the rain and wait for help.

The Chinese government has now said it will welcome international help. Responding to both China’s earthquake and Myanmar’s cyclone puts international relief organizations in a challenging situation.

Original Story

Earthquake in China Kills Nearly 12,000 (update 1)

Copyright © 2009 Informify

Sources

On foot, bike, Chinese offer aid to quake survivors (Reuters, 5/14/08)

China Digs for Quake Survivors as 25,000 People Remain Trapped (Bloomberg.com, 5/14/08)

Question for Readers:

Do you think the Chinese government is handling this earthquake any better than the Myanmar military government is handling their cyclone?