Paljor Thondup has personal reasons for organizing a relief effort for victims of the devastating earthquake last week in western China.

The earthquake, which registered a magnitude of 6.9, was in his homeland, high on the Tibetan plateau.

Thondup, president of Project Tibet in Santa Fe, was born in Jyekundo, capital of the Yushu region of Qinghai Province and the city hardest hit by the quake.

He has a cousin among the missing. "Each family there has lost one or two people there," he said in an interview Tuesday in his Canyon Road office, which has walls decorated with photos and a painting of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet.

Thondup is seeking donations to buy medical supplies, tents, blankets and digging tools.

Although the region officially is part of China, the people there primarily are Tibetan, Thondup said.

Thondup owns an office and small factory there that manufactures traditional Tibetan furniture. The buildings were demolished. "Luckily nobody was injured," he said. The earthquake hit about 7 a.m., before his employees got to work.

"Eighty-five percent of the buildings were destroyed," Thondup said.

Chinese officials early this week reported the death toll at more than 1,700 people. By Tuesday, the estimate had risen to 2,000. And, according to Thondup, local Tibetans have reported closer to 4,000 dead and more than 10,000 seriously injured.

"When someone dies (in Jyekundo), they are given a 'sky burial,' " Thondup said. He described a funeral ritual in which a body is laid on top of a monastery and vultures come down and consume it. "But so many have died, there's not enough vultures," he said. Instead, the bodies had to be cremated.

One monastery, Thondup said, reported handling 1,200 corpses. "Three others are reporting about the same number," he said.

Relief efforts there have been hampered by recent snows, he said. Also, he said, the Chinese government has been hesitant to allow foreigners in to help with the relief effort.

China ordered flags be flown at half-staff and a halt to all entertainment, including online games and sports events, for a national day of mourning today.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that by Tuesday, more than 150 countries, international and regional organizations have extended their consolation to the Chinese government and people. "We sincerely appreciate the attention and support."

Jiang said Japan, South Korea, France, the United States and Norway have provided $3.2 million of assistance and donations.

Jiang did not directly answer questions about whether China would allow the Dalai Lama to visit the quake-hit area, saying only that relief efforts were "in good order" and that "the local people's religious beliefs and customs are well-respected."

The exiled spiritual leader had said Saturday he'd like to visit the quake site. China is unlikely to allow a visit.

Thondup came to Santa Fe in 1975 as a student at the College of Santa Fe. "I was the first Tibetan here," he said. Since that time, he said, the community has grown to about 100.

In 1980, he started Project Tibet, a nonprofit organization that imports and sells weavings and rugs from Tibetan refugee handicraft centers and channels the profits back to the refugees.

Thondup said he is working with The Bridge Fund, a New York-based Tibetan charity, on the relief effort.

Those interested in donating can contact Project Tibet at 403 Canyon Road, 982-3002, The e-mail address is projecttibet505@gmail.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.