HTH -- Haiti Earthquake

April 19, 2010. Death toll reaches 1,944 in China

SOURCE: Altegrity Risk International

Rescue workers pulled a 68-year-old man and a four-year-old girl from the rubble in Jiegu, Qinghai province's Yushu county, on April 19th, some five days after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the area and killed at least 1,944 people. The quake injured about 12,135 others and left some 216 people missing. Thousands of local residents lost their homes in the quake with officials struggling to bring supplies some 4,000m (13,000ft) above sea-level. The affected area is nearly 97% ethnic Tibetans, leading to further complications for Mandarin-speaking officials and rescue personnel. Thousands of Buddhist monks reportedly deployed to the area to dig for survivors and distribute aid. The intervention of Buddhist monks added another dimension to the crisis in a country where the government is nervous about any possible threat to its monopoly on power. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, asked Chinese officials on April 17th to allow him to visit the affected province, a request Beijing is unlikely to grant. President Hu Jintao visited survivors of the earthquake and encouraged rescue workers in Jiegu township.