2008 Sichuan earthquake in Beijing on Tuesday. But he added the scale of the disaster was such that "we can't expect that the government can do everything and handle every aspect of the needs". The "Economist" noted that China reacted to the disaster "rapidly and with uncharacteristic openness", contrasting it with Burma's secretive response to Cyclone Nargis, which devastated that country 10 days before the earthquake. On May 16, rescue groups from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia and Taiwan arrived to join the rescue effort. The United States shared some of its satellite images of the quake-stricken areas with Chinese authorities. During the
Cyclone Nargis from Cyclone Sidr in the previous year and flooding earlier in the year, and a direct strike from Nargis would have resulted in destroyed crops due to strong winds. The United Nations estimated that 1.5 million people were "severely affected" by this cyclone. Estimates of the people missing were 53,836, with 84,537 confirmed dead. Some NGOs estimated that the final death toll would be over 100,000. At least 10,000 people were reported to have perished in the delta town of Bogale alone. Nargis was the deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide since the Typhoon Nina in 1975, which killed at least 229,000