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Information on earthquake in India A devastating
earthquake hit India in the early morning of January 26, 2001, killing
THOUSANDS of people (based on news reports) as it toppled buildings
and houses. The
quake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter Scale with epicenter around 20 km
north-east of Bhuj in Gujarat, occurred at 08:46 IST (Indian Standard
Time) according to the Indian Seismological Department.
Prime Minister Vajpayee convened an emergency Cabinet meeting to assess the situation arising out of the powerful earthquake. Union Home Minister L. K. Advani is in Ahmedabad to carry out the relief efforts in earthquake struck areas. In New Delhi, Cabinet Secretary T. R. Prasad, who heads the disaster management group, coordinating the emergency relief measures for Gujarat. Affected Districts Affected areas in Gujarat: Bhuj, Kutch, Surat, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Rajkot district, Surendranagar district, Jamnagar and Jodia.  Other Affected
Regions Prime Minister's National Relief Fund Government of India and Embassy of India continue to receive a number of offers for contributions to the earthquake relief activities in Gujarat, India. Those who wish to make voluntary contributions may do so by sending checks in dollars or rupees to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. (about the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) Checks/Money Orders should be drawn in favor of "Prime Minister's National Relief Fund" can be sent to any one of the following addresses: Prime Minister's National Relief
Fund Wire Transfer Information: Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (Riggs Bank,
Washington, DC) (OR) State Bank of India State Bank of India (OR) Prime Minister's National Relief Fund Contact Information Control Rooms in Gujarat: Ahmedabad External Aid Coordination Cell in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Tel: +91-79-285-4765 up to 4767 Coordination of earthquake relief is being carried out by the Disaster Management Group, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi. Mr. Purukayasth, Natural Disaster Management Control room Tel: 91-11-338-5574 &
91-11-338-9453
Relief efforts by non-governmental organizations India Development and Relief
Fund (http://www.idrf.org) India Development and Relief
Fund (IDRF) has donated $20,000 for relief to the victims of Gujarat
earthquake. Donations to IDRF are tax exempted in the United States (Tax
exempt ID: 52-1555563), and a receipt will be mailed to donors. Make
checks payable to IDRF, and mail it to the following address:
IDRF In the memo, please mention "Gujarat Earthquake Relief." For more information contact: Vijay Shrivastava at (770) 394 5031 AmeriCares American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org) Donors wishing to designate their gifts
to India should make checks payable to the American Red
Cross--International Response Fund and earmarked for India Earthquake Fund
in the memo section of the check or an accompanying letter, should specify
India Earthquake Fund. The following agencies are accepting contributions for assistance in India as members of InterAction, a coalition of relief, development and refugee assistance agencies. Adventist Development and Relief Agency, 800-424-ADRA, http://www.adra.org Asian American Hotel Owners
Association, Fred Schwartz, (404) 816 5759 AAPI, Dr. Dayanand
Nayak; (914) 732-3322 American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, 711 Third Ave., New York 10017. (212) 885-0832. http://www.jdc.org/ BAPS Earthquake Relief Fund, P.O. Box 891449, Dallas, TX 75389-1449. B'nai B'rith International Disaster Relief Fund, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. N.W., Washington 20036. (202) 857- 6533. http://www.bnaibrith.org/ CARE, 151 Ellis St. N.E., Atlanta 30303. (800) 521-CARE. http://www.care.org/ Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore 21203. (800) 736- 3467. http://www.catholicrelief.org/ Christian Children's Fund, P.O. Box 26484, Richmond 23261. (800)-SPONSOR. http://www.christianchildrensfund.org/ Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 800-55-CRWRC, http://www.crwrc.org Church World Service, 475 Riverside Dr., New York 10115. (212) 870-2167. http://www.churchworldservice.org/ Concern Worldwide, 212-557-8000, http://www.concernusa.org Direct Relief International, 27 South La Patera Lane, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93117. (805) 964-4767. http://www.directrelief.org/ Doctors Without Borders, P.O. Box 2247, New York 10116. (888) 392-0392. http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ Food for the Hungry, 7729 E. Greenway Rd., Scottsdale, Ariz. 85260. (800) 2HUNGER. http://www.fh.org/ Gujarati Samaj of New
York, 173-15 Horace Harding Expressway, Flushing, NY 11365; Peter
Bheddah, president, (718) 565-7765, Chandrakant Patel, secretary, (718)
762-9007. Gujarati Samaj of Washington DC, 9845 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22030 Jackson Heights Merchants
Association, (718) 651-6969 Leva Patidar Samaj of USA, 716 Sweetwater Circle, Old Hickory, TN 37138; (615) 391-4LPS. Lutheran World Relief, P.O. Box 17061, Baltimore 21298. (800) LWR-LWR2. http://www.lwr.org/ MAP International, 800-225-8550, http://www.map.org/ Operation USA, 8320 Melrose Ave., Suite 200, Los Angles 90069. (800) 678-7255. http://www.opusa.org/ Oxfam America, India Earthquake Response, P.O. Box 1745, Boston, Mass. 02105 1-800-776-9326 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/ Salvation Army World Service Office, 703-684-5528 The Association for India’s Development (AID), (301) 422-7765 United Methodist Committee on Relief, 475 Riverside Dr., New York 10115. (800) 554-8583. http://www.gbgm-umc.org/ US Fund for UNICEF, 333 E. 38th St., New York 10016. (800) FOR-KIDS. United Way International, 701 N. Fairfax St., Alexandria, Va. 22314 (703) 519-0092. http://www.uwint.org/ World Concern, 800-755-5022, http://www.worldconcern.org World Relief, 800-535-5433, http://www.worldrelief.org World Vision, 888-56-CHILD, http://www.worldvision.org Prime Minister's condolence message for the bereaved families of the Gujarat I am deeply pained and distressed to know about the devastating
earthquake that rocked Gujarat this morning, causing the loss of several
hundred lives and extensive damage to private and public property. The
earthquake has also caused destruction in some other States. I join all my countrymen in conveying our heartfelt condolences
to the bereaved families and expressing our solidarity with the suffering
people in all the earthquake-hit areas. As has been our proud tradition in
all such times of natural calamity, it is the duty of one and all to come
to the aid of our brethren in Gujarat and other quake-affected areas. I urge all the concerned agencies of the Central and State Government to begin rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations on a war footing. I also appeal to ordinary citizens, charitable institutions and voluntary organisations to coordinate with government agencies in dealing with this challenge effectively. January 28, 2001 Dear Brothers & Sisters, The country woke on the morning of 26th January, 2001 to the worst earthquake Independent India has seen. Thousands of people in the State of Gujarat have lost their lives and property worth crores of rupees has been damaged. We cannot leave our brothers and sisters to the mercy of fate or the cruelty of vagaries of nature. At this moment, they need our help to tide over the calamity that has fallen upon them, to survive, to rebuild their lives as best they can. The Union Government would be releasing funds from the existing schemes. However, given the magnitude of the calamity and the large number of people affected, the funds available are inadequate. You can help to meet the shortage by contributing money, no matter how small the amount, to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Last year it was your assistance that has enabled us to meet the challenge posed by the Super Cyclone that devastated Coastal Orissa. I am confident that this time too, you shall come forward to lend a helping hand. Together, we can overcome even this adversity. Jai Hind.
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The quake struck as many cities were celebrating India's 51st
Republic Day. The tremble caused high-rise buildings to shake from New
Delhi to Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Reports of aftershocks came in from
around the country. 