OCHA Situation Report No. 10
China: Earthquake
31 May 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

NOTE: This report is based on information received from the office of the 
United Nations Resident Coordinator, the media, as well as other partners.

Key Summary

- More than 3.3 million tents are urgently needed and have been requested 
by the Government of China to the international community.

- Tent Requirements/Sizes: 30 sq. m (6x5 m), 16 m sq.m (4x4m) or 15 sq.m 
(5x3m) (Footnote: it is not necessary that the tents be winterized.)

- Donors are encouraged to report their contributions, including in-kind 
contributions, to OCHA's Financial Tracking System (FTS), 
http://ocha.unog.ch/fts2/.

Situation

1. On 12 May 2008 a major earthquake measuring 8.0 (original 7.9 RS was 
raised to 8.0 by Chinese authorities) on the Richter scale struck Wenchuan 
County, Aba Prefecture some 92km northwest of Chengdu City, the capital of 
Sichuan Province. The earthquake took place at 14.48 Beijing-time and 
tremors were felt as far as Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing.

2. As of 28 May, 219 aftershocks measuring 3.9 RS or higher have been 
recorded, including an aftershock on 25 May measuring 5.4 RS in Qingchuan 
country. This aftershock resulted in the deaths of 8 people; 927 people 
injured; and 400,000 homes were destroyed.

3. According to official statistics the death toll is 68,858 people with 
an additional 366,596 people injured and 18,618 people missing. At least 
9,000 of the dead or missing are school children and teachers according to 
State media reports. A total of 45.61 million people have been affected, 
including 15 million people evacuated from their homes; of these, 5 
million are living in temporary shelters. The Ministry of Commerce has 
announced that up to 10 million additional people are now living below the 
poverty line as a result of the earthquake.

4. No major outbreaks of disease have been reported so far. The Ministry 
of Health stated that a large supply of vaccines was sent to the 
earthquake disaster zone to prevent possible epidemics. Health authorities 
plan to complete hepatitis A and encephalitis B vaccinations for high risk 
groups by the middle of next month, and to stock vaccines against cholera, 
rabies, measles, mumps and rubella.

Environmental Situation

5. Chinese environmental authorities have identified some 5,000 tons of 
hazardous chemicals located in buildings downstream from numerous quake 
lakes (i.e. lakes which have formed due to the earthquake and 
aftershocks). Efforts are underway to transport these materials to safer 
locations.

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=795938164475A98385257459007B54DE&file=Full.Report.pdf

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