Caritas has delivered further relief materials to survivors of an earthquake that hit Qinghai in western China on 14 April.

Jiegu Town and Long Bao Town have just received 25,000 kg of flour, 35,000 kg of rice and 4,000 litres of cooking oil.

Over 2,000 people have been reported dead from the 6.9 magnitude earthquake. More than 12,000 people were injured.

The actual death toll could be significantly higher as teams are yet to reach some of the more remote parts of the region.

The aid in Jiegu and Long Bao is being delivered by Caritas Hong Kong's local partner Catholic Social Service Centre of Xian Diocese (CSSC Xian).

People around Jiegu have not had enough food for several days, reported CSSC Xian staff. Many buildings collapsed and roads have been cut off by landslides. Snow and government restrictions on travel have made delivery difficult in the remote mountainous region.

Caritas Taiwan and its partners in China are also present around Jiegu. They distributed clothes, medicine and food in a makeshift camp where 20,000 people, many of them from destroyed villages in the area, found shelter.

“Thanks to our previous experience in this region, where we supported the construction of a school in Jiegu over the last years, we know a lot of locals and are familiar with the area. That helped us organize relief operations quickly”, said Paul Liu from Caritas Taiwan.

“The first days after the earthquake, people did not have tents yet and the temperatures were freezing at night, a few degrees over zero. We distributed overcoats. Now people have received tents, stoves and more from the government. The most urgent needs are taken care of for now. Then these people will still need help to rebuild their lives.”

The primary and secondary school Caritas helped build in Jiegu was almost completely destroyed. A large number of its about 3,000 students were injured. Caritas Taiwan is already planning on supporting the school’s reconstruction.

Staff from different Caritas members and local partner organisations remain in the disaster area to offer medical aid and counseling.

Please call Patrick Nicholson on +39 06 698 79 725 or +39 334 359 0700 or email nicholson@caritas.va with any requests.