The United Nations nearly doubled its appeal for aid for the victims of the South Asia earthquake today, telling member nations to dramatically increase their donations to the region.

The UN had so far managed to raise just $68 million of the $312 million it had requested to fund a response to the disaster. Today, the UN said it would need $550 million to provide tents, food and medical help to the estimated 3.3 million people left homeless by the earthquake.

"The scale of this tragedy almost defies our darkest imagination," Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, told today's donors conference in Geneva. "We meet today to prevent a second shockwave of deaths and to prevent further suffering."

Donations to the UN relief effort, which was launched by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the aftermath of the earthquake on October 8, have been sluggish. Before this morning's meeting, the US had donated $10.8 million to the fund and the UK $9.4 million. Seven prosperous countries, including Spain, France and Belgium, had given nothing.

Jan Egeland, the UN's chief aid co-ordinator, said today that some relief teams have already spent all their money and that limited funding meant that the 74,000 people injured by the earthquake were receiving inadequate medical care. At least 55,000 people were killed by the quake.

"We needed the money yesterday. We are amputating far too many limbs," said Mr Egeland, who told today's meeting that hundreds of thousands of survivors will need food, blankets and winterised tents to survive the Himalayan winter, where temperatures are already dropping below freezing.

Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary, was at today's meeting in Geneva. Britain has given a total of £44 million ($78 million) so far to fund earthquake relief, including its donation to the UN and £11 million ($19.5 million) to Echo, the EU's humanitarian organisation. The US has pledged a total of $50 million.

According to a spokesman at the Department for International Development, Britain has chosen to give most of its money to Oxfam and NGO's such as Islamic Relief because they have contacts in the disaster zone and are able to dispense aid more quickly.

"The thing about this relief operation is that... we need to fund groups with established relief networks in the area," said the spokesman.

The British public has so far given around £25 million for the victims of the earthquake, which has killed around 80,000 people. Donations for the victims of the tsunami reached £100 million within ten days of the disaster.

In a message to donors today, Oxfam said that the practical difficulties of the relief operation, which the UN has described as a worst case scenario, are being exacerbated by the slow donations of the world's richest nations.

"The logistical nightmare in Pakistan is bad enough without having to worry about funding shortfalls as well," said Phil Bloomer, Oxfam’s Policy Director, in a statement. "Governments meeting in Geneva today must put their hands in their pockets and pay their fair share. The public will be shocked that so many rich governments have given so little."

In a separate appeal, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also doubled its aid appeal today, to $117 million.

Top donors to the UN OCHA appeal, before today's meeting:

US $10.8m
UK $9.4m
Japan $8m
Netherlands $7.8m
Norway $7.1m
Sweden $6m
Canada $5.3m
Australia $3.8m
Denmark $2.9m

Countries yet to donate to the UN appeal:

France
Spain
Belgium
Austria
Finland
Greece
Portugal

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