http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/7006506.html

China puts final death toll from Qinghai quake at 2,698

The final death toll from the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that jolted Yushu of northwest China’s Qinghai Province on April 14 was 2,698, with 270 people missing, vice governor Zhang Guangrong said Monday.

Among the victims, 2,687 had been identified and the identities of 11 bodies remained unknown, Zhang told a press conference.

The vice governor said the killed include 199 students and a Hong Kong resident.

Source:Xinhua

For more information, see the attached links:

Disaster relief work in Jiegu/Yushu continues, as so many needs following the earthquake will persist for weeks and months to come. Up to three years may be needed for full reconstruction of the town … and this means that many local residents will have to live in their makeshift tent-homes for at least one winter, and probably two winters, before moving back to a semblance of normality. It is not an easy time, and we will continue to assist people in Yushu in as many ways as possible.

Specifically, we are now focusing our relief efforts on three fronts: distribution of emergency supplies, provision of clean water, and (discussions regarding) the possible establishment of a rehabilitation centre somewhere in the prefecture. Relief supplies currently being distributed to needy families in Jiegu include large tents, beds for the elderly, household cooking sets, solar powered lighting, thermal clothing, etc. Additional requests also are being made to assist with provision of fuel for heating and cooking. On-site we are cooperating with government and village leaders, other emergency relief camps, and local families. Regarding water, we are now arranging for a new low-tech (appropriate technology) water purification system to be trialed, which could meet the needs of several households per unit; and we also are in discussion with a large firm about the possible installation of an community-scale water purification system that can provide for over 10,000 people with one unit and could be used in township centers. Rehabilitation needs are equally great and we are therefore also exploring the different ways possible to assist in this area, as we already have on staff, or available, medical personnel well suited to help meet such needs.

Continued assistance is needed, however, to help carry out all of the above activities – particularly in the area of on-going financial support. The relief and recovery work following the devastating earthquake that affected Yushu on April 14, 2010, will need to be long-term and your support is enormously appreciated.

Thank you!

(if you are interested in helping with the needs listed in a financial capacity, please go here)

This therefore brings to a close the initial, short-term, ‘Phase One’ of Plateau Perspectives’ response to the devastating earthquake that hit Yushu on April 14, 2010. However much more will need to be done in the weeks and months ahead; and so from our perspectives, we now are simply moving into a next phase of work — including such matters as water purification, distribution of relief supplies, and other support for local partners (including both government bureaus and specific communities) that have been significantly affected by the earthquake.

Already, two water purification systems have been installed in one of the largest displaced person camps on the outskirts of Yushu, each with a proven capacity to provide potable water for over 2,500 people; and a request has been made for 30 water purification units in total, to be set up at 19 different locations throughout the town. Further afield, even remote counties, townships and villages in Yushu prefecture are affected by the earthquake, due to the breakdown in the normal medical referral system. Therefore, many herding communities that we have worked with in the past — some for more than a decade — also are likely to require additional support in the months ahead. A more detailed needs assessment, including health and other areas of social service, will be carried out in the near future.

*Above is a picture of the water machines that will be used to help provide clean drinking water to the residents in Yushu affected by the quakes.

We have been able to map out our relief work from last week in response to the Yushu quakes.  In order to grasp the big picture of the Plateau Perspectives continued relief work in Yushu we thought it would be nice to share it with you as well (click here).  Also, make sure and give the video below a quick look.  This video footage coincides well with the timeline and will hopefully give you an idea of how extensive the quake damage in Yushu really is.

In other news, we were able to get two fresh doctors into camp this morning for continued support of our medical relief work.  We are still up and running in Yushu and doctors and nurses continue to see between 150 to 200 patients all while providing extremely thorough medical care.  We continue to be pleased to be able to support the Yushu community at this time.

VIEW TIMELINE

Relief operations have been running very smoothly at our Yushu medical camp.  Patients continued to file through and the doctors on site are averaging close to 150-200 patients per day.  The medical camp staff are approaching treatment of nearly 1,000 patients during our time in Yushu.  We remain excited to see that our water filtering systems continue to provide fresh drinking water for the people of Yushu.  Needless to say we are thrilled with this initial relief response in Yushu and are making preparations to move into new phases of sustainable medical relief work in Yushu.

The relief effort continues one week after the quake.

In an effort to show the extensive damage in Yushu, we were able to post before and after shots from similar vantage points seen above.  Further away from this point you will notice more widespread damage – while many of the buildings in the foreground either collapsed directly upon themselves, tilted off their foundations, or were literally cracked down the middle.  Yushu residents are still not allowed to re-enter their homes.  There are sections of Yushu that can be seen in these images where literally every structure was destroyed (again, further away from this vantage point.)

*please note that these pictures are taken from the same hillside but from different vantage points approximately 100 yards from each other.  Use the red building/monastery towards the center of both pictures as a reference point.  For more pictures of the ongoing relief work, please click here

Jiegu #2 from mr name on Vimeo.