An earthquake that hit China on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, left at least 400 dead and 8,000 injured, according to a Chinese television network. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.1, caused great damage to a dominantly Tibetan county in the western province of Qinghai.

The quake that shook an area 20 miles from the county seat of Yushu tore apart an elementary school, a portion of a Buddhist tower in a public park, the town’s main hospital and numerous houses, Chinese officials said to the media.

As stated by Zhuo Huaxia, a local Tibetan official, many were buried in the collapsed houses and several others were still injured and treated in the local medical centers.

The town of Yushu is located approximately 500 miles southwest of Xining, Qinghai’s capital. This town is home to about 100,000 people, many of whom are herdsmen. A number of houses that were affected by the earthquake were made of logs and mud.

“The death toll may rise as lots of houses collapsed,” said an army official. The official further added that the roads that lead to the airport has been slowing down rescue efforts because they were damaged.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake was measured at magnitude 6.9. Additionally, there were at least six aftershocks, the strongest of which was measured at a magnitude of 6.2.

The Haiti earthquake last January 12, 2010 provided the world with various pictures of human tragedy, devastation and death. Hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the people of the little island country of Haiti have been set up in temporary relocation camps outside of Port-au-Prince. The Haitian government is also focusing its efforts on finishing the building of temporary schools where the earthquake survivors and their families will eventually settle.

The tragedy has shown how people can join together to help their fellow humans. Several governments and powerful individuals, including Hollywood celebrities, have pledged wealth and utilities to the island nation to aid and somehow help Haitians recover from the traumatic tragedy.

Ben Stiller, one of the most recognizable Hollywood stars around the world, has launched the Haitian Schools Initiative that is aimed at providing Haitian children with temporary schools and places to learn while they clean up the rubble and repair everything that has been damaged by the earthquake.

“Our goal is to help kids get back in school as quickly as possible,” Stiller says of his initiative.

He adds that schools, for him, represent a safe haven for kids, especially in these times of crisis. Schools provide not only a place where children can learn but also a place where healthcare, nutrition and other important services can be conducted and given.

Through his start-up organization, stillerstrong.org, Stiller is partnering with the organization Architecture for Humanity in making sure that the constructions of these schools will not be delayed and will be done as soon as the Haitian government finalizes all of its relocation plans.

Already working in Haiti, even before the earthquake struck, Ben Stiller and Architecture for Humanity estimated that a temporary school would cost somewhere around $45,000-$75,000. Launching stillerstrong as a fun campaign in 2009, Ben Stiller has continued on his mission to rebuild hope for the children of Haiti.