China Earthquake Relief

April 2010

The Situation:

On April 14, a 6.9-magnitude quake struck  with the epicentre approximately 50km (31 miles) west of Jiegu, the main town of Yushu County, about 800km away from Xining, the capital of the province. Yushu County is located in the Qinghai Province of China. 

As of April 19, 1,706 people were reported dead, more than 13,000 injured and 100,000 homeless.


Because Yushu sits at about 13,000 ft (4,000 m), it is difficult for teams not used to the high altitude to work for long periods of time. Numerous aftershocks continue to make relief work challenging. The quake knocked out phone and power lines, and triggered landslides. Survivors shivered through Wednesday night in the open as temperatures fell below freezing.

In the township of Jiegu, 85% of buildings have been destroyed. Several schools collapsed and at least 66 pupils and 10 teachers were among the dead. The Chinese president has called for an all-out emergency effort and some 5,000 rescuers, including 700 soldiers, have been sent to the area. Ethnically, Han Chinese account for about 55% of the population, while Tibetans make up about 21% and Hui 16%, according to estimates.

ELCA Response:

ELCA companions in China are engaged in immediate responses to earthquake survivors, even as they develop longer-term plans to respond to the crisis in the weeks and months ahead. ELCA-GM is in close communication with these partners, and International Disaster Response donations will be used to support their work. For example, the ELCA works with the Sichuan Council of Churches and will not only provide a matching grant to locally raised funds (thus further enabling the regional church to respond) but also provide funds to further the inter-church (Sichuan <> Qinghai) relief work that is anticipated.

The ELCA has commtited $50,000 for the Yushu earthquake through its partner, Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance which will be implemented through Amity Foundation, the Sichuan Council of Churches, in coordination with the Qinghai Council of Churches and local partners such as Luzhou City Church; and Plateau Perspectives. 

Click here to read the ELCA news release.

What you can do: