After the magnitude-6.2 earthquake that occurred on April 14 in the Kumamoto region of Kyushu, Japan, another magnitude-7.3 earthquake occurred on April 16, causing serious casualties locally. Taiwan has also recently suffered from the 0206 earthquake in Tainan, which caused substantial casualties, thus we greatly sympathize with what they are going through. 
To assist in Japan’s disaster relief and reconstruction, from April 19 to June 30, donation accounts will be open to accept public donations. The raised donations will be forwarded to Japan by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

People may use the following donation accounts to make donations: 
1. Domestic: 
(1) Remittances through financial institutions; account no. 270750 “Department of the Treasury of the Central Bank of the Republic of China,” the account name is “Ministry of Health and Welfare Disaster Relief Account.” 
(2) Postal transfer method; transfer account no. 50269506, the account name is “Ministry of Health and Welfare Disaster Relief Account.” 
2. Overseas: The donation account no. for people overseas is 007-09-11868-0 “Mega International Commercial Bank Foreign Department,” the account name is “Ministry of Health and Welfare Disaster Relief Account.” 
(For the above, please designate the purpose as: “Kumamoto, Japan Earthquake Project.” In a blank space, state the name, telephone number, and receipt delivery address of the donor and fax it to +886 02-85906065 to facilitate receipt delivery. Contacts: Chief Zhan Heng, Social Assistance and Social Work Division, Ministry of Health and Welfare, telephone: +886 02-85906640; Ms. Jiang Pei-Yun, telephone: +886 02-85906619). 
If any civic groups launch “Kumamoto, Japan Earthquake” fundraising activities, they should apply for fundraising permission with the competent authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Charity Donations Destined For Social Welfare Funds Implementation Regulations. 
The Ministry of Health and Welfare hopes to send donations from the Taiwanese people to the disaster area as soon as possible to help the victims stand up from the disaster and regain normal lives. We wish peace and safety for Japan, and also wish that Kumamoto will have a speedy recovery from the earthquake.