Millions of Chinese have been left homeless due to a massive earthquake in the Sichuan province of China. The earthquake struck on May 12th in the afternoon, and measured 7.9 on the Richter scale.

The inhabitants of the disaster-stricken area are still suffering from thousands of aftershocks, which are smaller scale earthquakes caused by a particularly large quake. These aftershocks have shifted rubble and collapsed much of what remained after the initial major earthquake. The most recent one was a quake with a magnitude of 5.5.

Major relief efforts have been made by the Chinese government, which, after unsuccessful initial attempts to clear roads of house-sized boulders, sent parachutists and the military in with equipment to rescue those still trapped under the rubble. There have also been amazing personal donations and contributions to the relief efforts, such as a Chinese company owner who rushed sixty lifting cranes over to the scene and also donated millions.

The death toll is currently around 20,000, but is projected to top fifty thousand. However, according to local officials, the focus right now is not on finding the dead and putting together statistics, but on rescuing the living.