Three US charities raise $65m for Japan quake

WASHINGTON - THREE US charities said Wednesday they have raised more than US$51 million (S$65.4 million) for Japan five days after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami devastated the north-east of the country.

Leading the way among the charities contacted by AFP was the American Red Cross, which raised US$47 million for Japan quake relief, including US$2.6 million that came in via text message, spokesman Attie Poirier said.

World Vision USA raised US$2.42 million for quake relief in Japan, about US$24,000 through via mobile phone giving, spokesman Geraldine Ryerson-Cruz said.

And the US Salvation Army has raised US$2.1 million, the bulk through online donations but around five per cent via text message giving.

The idea of sending a text message to a number to donate US$10 at a time for a cause took off last year when the impoverished Caribbean island of Haiti was struck by a 7.0-magnitude quake that flattened large tracts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and claimed more than 200,000 lives.

Within three days after the Haiti quake, US-based organizations had raised more than US$10 million from text message donors alone, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the time. Seven days after the Haiti quake, World Vision had received US$15.8 million in donations for the island nation, Ms Ryerson-Cruz told AFP. -- AFP