The world has reeled under a succession of natural disasters in recent months. Many thousands of people have died in earthquakes and floods. To that appalling toll must now be added the 30,000 believed to have perished in Kashmir and northern Pakistan as a result of the region's biggest earthquake in a century.

All large-scale tragedies are appalling, wherever they occur. This one is particularly distressing for the people of Bradford because so many of them have friends and relatives in the disaster zone. Our thoughts are with them as they worry about the fate of someone dear to them or, if they already know the worst, as they struggle to come to terms with their loss.

If anything positive can be said to come out of a catastrophe like this, it is that it helps to bring people of different communities together. Faced with the human consequences of such disasters, we realise that the things we have in common far outweigh those which separate us.

Already Muslim and Sikh community leaders have vowed to work together to fund-raise and to support anxious families. They will no doubt find strong support from the people of Bradford generally, who have a magnificent record when it comes to backing appeals.

Today sees the launch of the Telegraph & Argus's South Asia Earthquake Appeal. We are confident that it, and other appeals for blankets, clothing and food parcels, will meet with a response which will be even more generous than usual because this new disaster is so close to home.