Massive 7.9 China Earthquake in Shichuan Province

[The Rover]

Dujiangyan, the city of 600,000 -- is reduced to rubble

An estimated 900 teenagers lie buried under the rubble at the Juyuan Middle School.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...d-students.html

China quake: 19,000 buried in rubble, 13,000 dead

The epicenter is near Wenchen a city of 110,000 NW of Chengdu, the provinical capital of Sichuan province in Central China.

An article by the Los Angeles Times (2006) called Chengdu, "China's party city". Chengdu outnumbers Shanghai in the number of tea houses and bars despite having less than half the population. The inhabitants have a reputation both within Sichuan and in China at large for having a laid back attitude and for knowing how to enjoy life.

[The Rover]

China quake death toll raised to 15,000

Published: May 14, 2008 at 8:36 AM

(UPI) -- The death toll from Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake in southwest Sichuan province has soared to nearly 15,000, officials said Wednesday.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency has released figures revising the death from 12,000, CNN reported.

The situation in Yingxiu, in the quake's epicenter of Wenchuan County, was worse than expected with traffic cut off and children buried in debris, Xinhua reported. The report said of the the town's 2,300 survivors, more than 1,000 were badly injured.

People were digging with their hands to reach children in the debris of a demolished school as rescue teams had yet to reach the scene because roads were blocked by fallen rocks. The report said boulders were still rolling down from the mountains Wednesday.

A bridge on the highway linking Yingxiu and Dujiangyan City collapsed, cutting off the area and allowing little communications with outside areas.

By late Tuesday, about 200 soldiers out of a contingent of about 40,000 reached the epicenter and nearby areas, where more than 50,000 people were feared missing or trapped in rubble.

The BBC reported heavy rains also were hampering efforts to reach the victims in quake-hit areas.

[The Rover]

State media: China quake death nears 15,000

(AP) — The official death toll from a powerful earthquake in central China has risen to almost 15,000.

The Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday that 14,866 have been killed — two days after the magnitude-7.9 quake hit central China.

It was not clear if the official number included all the dead discovered in hard-to-reach mountain villages at the earthquake's epicenter.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.

AP's earlier story is below.

AN XIAN, China (AP) — Military helicopters dropped food and medicine to Chinese earthquake survivors who remained cut off Wednesday in remote mountain villages behind roads clogged by landslides. The official death toll of more than 12,000 appeared certain to soar as several thousand more bodies were found.

Some victims trapped for more than two days under collapsed buildings were still being pulled out alive in delicate rescues. But the number of bodies grew along with survivors' frustrations in finding out what happened to thousands of missing.

The scale of devastation became clearer as more rescuers walked into the hardest-hit areas of central Sichuan province, finding towns where 80 percent of the population fell victim to Monday's magnitude 7.9 quake.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported 7,700 people died in Yingxiu town, near the epicenter. It was unclear if the new figure was in addition to overall toll.

Xinhua also reported that 178 children were confirmed dead in one school in Qingchuan in northern Sichuan. The agency added that the confirmed death toll for Mianyang city rose to 5,430 on Wednesday. More than 18,000 people there were still thought to be buried under crushed buildings.

Government officials told Xinhua rescuers who hiked into the Wenchuan county town of Yingxiu found it "much worse than expected."

Xinhua said the survivors in Yingxiu "desperately needed medical help, food and water."

Roads leading to Wenchuan from all directions were still being cleared of debris, Feng Zhenglin, deputy minister of railway and transportation, said in Beijing.

Relief efforts were aided in their third day by the clearing of storms that had prevented flights over some of the worst-hit towns. Military helicopters seen flying north over Dujiangyan, and Xinhua said two of them airdropped food, drinking water and medicine to Yingxiu.

A 3-year-old girl who was trapped for more than 40 hours under the bodies of her parents in Beichuan region was pulled to safety, Xinhua said.

Rescuers found Song Xinyi on Tuesday morning, but were unable to pull her out right away due to fears the debris above her would collapse. She was fed and shielded from the rain until rescuers extricated her from the rubble.

Premier Wen Jiabao looked over her wounds, part of his highly publicized tour of the disaster area aimed at reassuring the public about the government's response and to show it is ready to host the Beijing Olympics in August. Wednesday's leg of the Olympic torch relay in the southeastern city of Ruijin began with a minute of silence.

Wen said some 100,000 troops and police had been dispatched to the disaster zone. He also visited a school Wednesday in Beichuan where two classroom buildings collapsed in the earthquake, including a school with 2,000 students that state TV said sustained "heavy casualties."

East of the epicenter in the town of Hanwang, about 60 bodies wrapped in plastic were laid out as sobbing relatives walked among them. Feet and hands were sticking through the plastic wrapped around some of the bodies.

Some were covered with tree branches or flowers, and relatives burned paper money to be used in the afterlife.

As people mourned, rescue workers in blue uniforms continued to bring out bodies they have had been keeping in the Dongqi sports arena. It was unclear whether the corpses were from Hanwang or elsewhere.

Most of the buildings in Hanwang, which is surrounded by mountains, had been left in twisted piles by the quake, and cranes were tearing down what was left of any buildings still standing.

Farther north in An Xian, on the road to Beichuan, a hard-hit area on the edge of the quake's epicenter, a group of survivors huddled by the road in a makeshift tent to protect them from the rain.

Government buses have carried some survivors out of Beichuan, but Li Zizhong, a 38-year-old farmer, said he had not heard from his relatives there yet.

"Who knows what happened to them," Li said. "All we need is a little something to eat. I'm just happy to be alive."

Li and a friend, Zhang Mingfu, 44, had built a wood and plastic shelter with a straw floor where about 30 family members spent the night. Their destroyed homes were in the background.

"I feel lucky. It's the people in the mountains that we are worrying about, they are our relatives," Zhang said.

Authorities had blocked the road to Beichuan to regular traffic to allow rescue vehicles access.

China also reported Wednesday that a 3-year-old Taiwanese boy was among the victims. Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Li Weiyi said two other Taiwanese were hurt in the quake.

Meanwhile, Mianyang, an industrial city of 700,000 people and home to the headquarters of China's nuclear weapons design industry, had turned into a thronging refugee camp.

The devastation and ramped-up rescue across a large, heavily populated region of farms and factory towns strained local governments. Food dwindled on the shelves of the few stores that remained open. Gasoline was scarce, with long lines outside some stations and pumps marked "empty."

Price gouging was evident at some store that were open. A package of instant noodles normally selling for 35 cents now costs $1.15.

The government's high-gear response aimed to reassure Chinese while showing the world it was capable of handling the disaster and was ready for the Aug. 8-24 Olympics in Beijing. Although the government said it welcomed outside aid, officials said it would accept only money and supplies, not foreign personnel.

Bowing to public calls, Beijing Olympics organizers scaled down the boisterous ongoing torch relay, with Wednesday's leg in the southeastern city of Ruijin beginning with a minute of silence. The torch is scheduled to arrive in quake-hit areas next month.

[Rock Action]

Holy shit, that's just massive beyond comprehension. And it's also a look into what may happen in California any time...

[zepyep]

Hi all,

Holy shit, that's just massive beyond comprehension. And it's also a look into what may happen in California any time...

Rock Action,where you in the bay area at the time of the '89 quake? I was,......nothing like China though,..

KB

[Rock Action]

Hi all,

Rock Action,where you in the bay area at the time of the '89 quake? I was,......nothing like China though,..

KB

I was driving over Hwy. 17 just south of Los Gatos when it hit!!!!! Oh shit that was scary.

[The Rover]

Relief Map of Sichuan Province (Adjustable) - China

[zepyep]

HI Rock Action,all,

I was driving over Hwy. 17 just south of Los Gatos when it hit!!!!! Oh shit that was scary.

Man,I was home in Campbell,just getting ready to meet the boys to watch the A's vs Giants World Series at a dive called the 19th Hole,....scary is right!

KB

[Rock Action]

HI Rock Action,all,

Man,I was home in Campbell,just getting ready to meet the boys to watch the A's vs Giants World Series at a dive called the 19th Hole,....scary is right!

KB

heh, I LIVED in Campbell! That's where I was headed, over to Mtn. Mike's Pizza to get buzzed and watch the game on the big screen.

It was not to be...

[Hotplant]

I lived in Campbell too.

Seems like we are being hit with earthquakes all over. Scary, here is the Wasatch Fault, if it ever gets the big one, it could be devastating.

Been in plenty of small ones, was only scared once, when we had a 6. something because it shook our beds all over, moving them around the room like a scary spirit.

It is horrid to see the devastation in China, as well as Burma. God bless those poor people.

[eternal light]

They keep revising the death toll upwards. Initially they reported between 8,000-9,000 people had died, but the telephone lines were all down then, and they had not yet sifted through the wreckage at the time.

[Rhodey]

The birth's around the world will more than offset this population loss, as tragic for family as it is.

There are 4 births per second in the world, that's 345,600 each day!.

Just so you'd know.

[redrum]

They keep revising the death toll upwards. Initially they reported between 8,000-9,000 people had died, but the telephone lines were all down then, and they had not yet sifted through the wreckage at the time.

Just back in the 70's over 600,000 were killed in China and in the 1500's over 800,000 were killed.

They get some doozies for sure.

[zepyep]

Hi all,

Well, Rock Action and HotPlant,too bad we didn't all sit down for a brew or 12 when we all lived there,...

That would have been fun,...

Remembering the '89 quake,most buildings that fell,did not meet earthquake codes,those that did,remained,thought not without damage.China,if I may ask,did not meet any codes,hence the horrible deaths.Same thing with Iran a few years ago,more people are killed by -bad- buildings than the quake itself,...

Hell,and tarnation,that old icebox,Candlestick park,stood up better,....

KB

[MadScreamingGallery]

One of the oddest things that I've read in the articles about this tragedy is that, when the last major earthquake, the Tangshan, struck China in 1976, it killed 240,000 and coincided with the deaths of Mao and Chou En-lai and also with the end of the Cultural Revolution. The article mentioned that some of the more superstitious Chinese see a connection between earthquakes and large events - some of these people have connected this most current earthquake, in Sichuan, to the Olympics.

[Rock Action]

Hi all,

Well, Rock Action and HotPlant,too bad we didn't all sit down for a brew or 12 when we all lived there,...

That would have been fun,...

Remembering the '89 quake,most buildings that fell,did not meet earthquake codes,those that did,remained,thought not without damage.China,if I may ask,did not meet any codes,hence the horrible deaths.Same thing with Iran a few years ago,more people are killed by -bad- buildings than the quake itself,...

Hell,and tarnation,that old icebox,Candlestick park,stood up better,....

KB

The thing that really hurt SF was all that landfill in the Marina district. That, and that ancient Cypress freeway. Take away those two factors and we got off lightly.

Seems to me that the buildings in China were not made anywhere close to reasonable specs. Sure, nothing is earthquake proof, but really...

[Angel With A Broken Wing]

The birth's around the world will more than offset this population loss, as tragic for family as it is.

There are 4 births per second in the world, that's 345,600 each day!.

Just so you'd know.

That's an amazing figure, and I understand what you're saying but it's still a horrific, tragic loss of lives. Especially so with so many children taken. It makes me wonder how China's long-term one-child policy will play into effect. Do you think there will be a percentage of surviving parents who lost their only child and will not be able to have another?

One of the oddest things that I've read in the articles about this tragedy is that, when the last major earthquake, the Tangshan, struck China in 1976, it killed 240,000 and coincided with the deaths of Mao and Chou En-lai and also with the end of the Cultural Revolution. The article mentioned that some of the more superstitious Chinese see a connection between earthquakes and large events - some of these people have connected this most current earthquake, in Sichuan, to the Olympics.

If my husband is a typical Chinese -- and I believe he is -- then I'd say that they are EXTREMELY superstitious! Despite a post-graduate education & living in the US for most of his adult life, he can't get over the idea of the number 4 being bad luck ("four" and "death" are pronounced the same in Chinese). Or that an owl is considered a harbinger of death (and wouldn't you know it that our daughter's school mascot is the owl? So he worries about that on a daily basis, LOL) He hasn't mentioned the earthquake/Olympics connection, YET.

[bouncing~ship]

What about the Volcano eruption in Chile (It is said that there is so much ash in the sky that it will be hard to see the sun and the sky for many years to come) or the formation of Tornado's hitting the U.S? of the Cyclone that hit Burma/Myanmar?(It's government is giving it's people spoiled food that has been there for some time now and keeping the food/aid that is coming in...Disgusting) what about this up and coming heat wave that is to hit California? Who knows i guess...Has anyone heard of H.A.R.P? look it up.( I am not saying that they used H.A.R.P but I'm just filling you guys in)

How about the Drought in Spain?

My condolences to any ones family who is involved with the China situation...God Speed

[eternal light]

Separately on Thursday, the government warned that the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000.

The confirmed death toll reached 19,509, up from the nearly 15,000 confirmed dead the day before, according to the Earthquake and Disaster Relief Headquarters of the State Council, the country's Cabinet. The council said deaths could rise to some 50,000, state TV reported.

www.msnbc.msn.com

[MadScreamingGallery]

If my husband is a typical Chinese -- and I believe he is -- then I'd say that they are EXTREMELY superstitious! Despite a post-graduate education & living in the US for most of his adult life, he can't get over the idea of the number 4 being bad luck ("four" and "death" are pronounced the same in Chinese). Or that an owl is considered a harbinger of death (and wouldn't you know it that our daughter's school mascot is the owl? So he worries about that on a daily basis, LOL) He hasn't mentioned the earthquake/Olympics connection, YET.

Nice to see you back here, AWABW!

I thought of you this week because I remember you mentioned that your husband was Chinese and I wondered if he had family in Sichuan.

Thanks for the information about the Chinese superstitions (aw, the owl) - that's fascinating. Such things are not limited to the Chinese. Like your husband, I have a post graduation education (mathematics) and was BORN in the U.S. but I still carry on certain superstitions from my father and his family who were not born here. For example, I still wear, always, on a gold chain that hangs inside my shirt an amulet to "keep away the evil eye" that my grandmother gave me when I was a very small child. I can commiserate with your husband when it comes to superstitions - they are deeply ingrained and, it seems, immutable.

Here is the article that discusses the superstitions connected to the Sichuan earthquake: http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/05/19...?printable=true

[Alessandra]

I feel sorry for them.. Hope their government do something for it...

[Angel With A Broken Wing]

Nice to see you back here, AWABW!

I thought of you this week because I remember you mentioned that your husband was Chinese and I wondered if he had family in Sichuan.

Thanks for the information about the Chinese superstitions (aw, the owl) - that's fascinating. Such things are not limited to the Chinese. Like your husband, I have a post graduation education (mathematics) and was BORN in the U.S. but I still carry on certain superstitions from my father and his family who were not born here. For example, I still wear, always, on a gold chain that hangs inside my shirt an amulet to "keep away the evil eye" that my grandmother gave me when I was a very small child. I can commiserate with your husband when it comes to superstitions - they are deeply ingrained and, it seems, immutable.

Here is the article that discusses the superstitions connected to the Sichuan earthquake: http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/05/19...?printable=true

Thanks for thinking of us MSG. No, he has no relatives in that area but we do have a few friends there, we have heard from a couple of them already. Thanks also for the interesting article. Here's another one: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/world/as...nyt&emc=rss

[The Rover]

China earthquake: Mudslides bury 200 relief workers

By Caroline Gammell

Last Updated: 8:59AM BST 19/05/2008

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1986172/Ch...ef-workers.html

More than 200 Chinese relief workers have been buried under mudslides, as it emerged that 70,000 people may have lost their lives in last week's earthquake.