LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The International Olympic Committee is giving $1 million to aid relief efforts following a heavy earthquake in China, the host of this year's Summer Olympics.
"This appears to be a major disaster, the scale of which is only just becoming apparent," IOC president Jacques Rogge said Tuesday.
Rogge had earlier sent a letter of condolence to Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday after hearing about the earthquake.
The IOC said it will channel the funds through the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games, which will distribute the money to the appropriate relief organizations.
The 7.9-magnitude quake toppled buildings, schools and a chemical plant in central China, killing more than 12,000 in Sichuan province alone.
Thousands more are still trapped in mounds of concrete, steel and earth in the worst quake in three decades.
Chinese organizers decided to downscale the Olympic torch relay and begin with a minute of silence Wednesday when a leg kicks off in the southeastern city of Ruijin, as a symbolic gesture to the victims. No Olympic venues were damaged by the quake.
