The latest figures emerging from Chile record the number of deaths to be nearly 800. While the figure is almost 500 times lower than the one for Haiti, Chile’s situation should not be taken lightly.

About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.

Half a million people are still homeless in Chile where about 1.5 million homes have been damaged. Help is needed as the devastation has been worse than expected and reports confirm that many of the city's 500,000 inhabitants are short of food and have seen their water and electricity supplies cut off. Media reports state that rescue efforts have been slow also because of a mangled infrastructure as highways have been sliced in two and road bridges have collapsed.

Initially, the Chilean president, not gauging the extent of the damage correctly, had denied outside help for which she has been criticized by the victims of the affected areas where help was very slow to reach, and in some areas, not at all.

Reports show that the help so far extended to Chile is insufficient. With people already having given substantial amounts for the Haiti disaster, aid agencies were appearing to struggle to raise money for relief efforts as the world community seems to be getting ‘disaster weary’. The country, which is supposed to be one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations, has now requested help from the UN and the humanitarian community.

IDRF is preparing to respond accordingly and asks you to join in its relief efforts for Chile.