Dear Mike,
Early this morning, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake followed by a number of powerful aftershocks struck Kyegundo in Kham, eastern Tibet. Media sources have reported nearly 600 people killed and more than 10,000 injured. Tibetans with contacts in the area have heard the death toll may be as high as 4,000.
All of us at Students for a Free Tibet send our heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost loved ones in the earthquake. Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Kyegundo and the surrounding area. We will continue to post updates on SFT's facebook page and twitter.
How you can help:
1) Donate to organizations working in the region to help support emergency relief efforts:
- Tibetan Village Project: http://www.
tibetanvillageproject.org/ (Note: you can also donate via Causes at: http://www.causes.com/causes/472609 ) - Tibet Relief Fund: http://www.tibetrelieffund.co.
uk/ - Machik: http://www.machik.org/index.
php - Tibet Foundation: http://www.tibet-foundation.
org/news/urgent_emergency_ appeal_-_kyekudo_yushu_ earthquake/
2) Help spread the word. The media is reporting that this awful tragedy occurred in western China. Please help educate everyone that the earthquake struck in Tibet, not China.
- Change your Facebook status and tweet: Quake in Tibet. Please help. Donate here: http://tibetanvillageproject.
org/ (Please RT); - Read and share a moving blog post about the earthquake with reactions from Tibetans in Tibet on High Peaks Pure Earth;
- Read and share the statement on the earthquake issued by the five leading Tibetan exile organizations in Dharamsala, India (including SFT India);
- Write to the editor of your local newspaper and ask that he/she correctly cite the location of the earthquake as Tibet (Kyegundo, Kham province, eastern Tibet).
Fears over potential dam burst: The BBC has reported that a massive dam at the headwaters of three rivers in the area has been damaged and that people have fled to the mountains in fear that the dam might burst. A crack in the dam wall has reportedly prompted Chinese officials to drain the reservoir. The Chinese government has plans to build over a dozen more dams in this earthquake prone area. Read more on the Tibetan Plateau blog: http://tibetanplateau.
Also, according to media reports 85% of the buildings in the town have collapsed and the Red Cross is reporting that 70% of schools have been destroyed. The area is home to Tibetan nomads and farmers who have traditionally lived on the grasslands of the plateau. A Newsweek blog post from today documents the Chinese government's massive push to forcibly settle Tibetan nomads into concrete housing blocks like the kind we see lining the streets of Kyegundo. China plans to settle all the nomads in eastern Tibet within five years.
For updates and ways to take action, keep checking the SFT blog: http://blog.
With hope,
Tendor, TenDolkar, Mary Kate, Schuyler, Kate and all of us here at SFT HQ
Read more:
His Holiness the Dalai Lama sends his condolences to the earthquake victims: http://www.dalailama.com/news/
Statement by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: http://www.speaker.gov/
World News Blog (The sensitivity behind the latest Chinese earthquake): http://blogs.channel4.com/
BBC (China earthquake kills hundreds in Qinghai): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
NPR (Earthquake In China Kills 400; Thousands Injured): http://www.npr.org/templates/
Free Tibet (UK based Tibet Support Group): http://www.freetibet.org/
New York Times (Strong Quake Kills Hundreds in Western China): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario