Residents and local groups are mobilizing to help victims of natural disasters in Myanmar and China.

Tonight, University of Hawai'i students will hold a vigil for earthquake victims in China. And yesterday, the first installment of $5,000 for medicines was sent off to Myanmar cyclone victims by the Myanmar Association of Hawai'i. Since the disaster, the association has gathered $20,000 through fundraisers.

Meanwhile, the official death toll in China from the earthquake that struck Sichuan province Monday topped 19,000 yesterday, and Myanmar cyclone victims continued to go without food, water and medicine as strong rains and winds hampered relief efforts.

Tin Myaing Thein, president of the Myanmar Association of Hawai'i, said the situation in the country is dire. Anyone who can afford to flee is doing so, said Thein, who has many relatives in Myanmar.

"It's devastating," she said, adding that the outpouring of support for Myanmar victims has been heartwarming.

The association is still counting donations, but had topped the $20,000 mark yesterday. Thein said most of the donations are small — as little as $5 — but added that every little bit helps. The money raised so far is all the more remarkable, Thein said, considering the small population of people from Myanmar who live in the Islands.

Thein estimates the total at 300.

Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on May 2, and more than 40,000 people died in the storm or the subsequent weeks without medicines, food, clean water and shelter. The death toll is still rising.

The death toll also continues to rise in earthquake-devastated China, as rescue workers pick through the rubble of flattened office buildings, high-rises and schools. Jian Ma, president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at UH-Manoa, said the vigil tonight is as much about remembering as it is about healing.

The vigil will be held on University Avenue.

Attendees are encouraged to bring donations. Already, the UH group has raised $5,000, which will be donated to the Red Cross in China by way of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, Ma said.

Tzu Chi, a global Buddhist aid agency with an outpost Downtown, will also be raising money for earthquake victims this weekend in Chinatown. Volunteers will be accepting donations on King and Hotel streets, from 9:30 a.m. to noon tomorrow and Sunday.

The group will also take donations to help victims in China and Myanmar by phone and mail. Stephanie Fan, a commissioner with Tzu Chi Hawaii, said 100 percent of donations will go to victims. The nonprofit has aid workers already on the ground in China and Myanmar, she said.