MW 7.9 SW China 69,159 confirmed dead; 17,469 still missing

[Opal storm]

What in the world has been going on lately? Terrible times.

[lurkey]

There is now video available on Youtube

[CajunMama]

Local met has a something on his blog about the earthquake. I really like the map he used.

Earthquake map

[Chacor]

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 10,000 people in China's south-western Sichuan province, up to 5,000 of them in just one county.

Many more have been killed and injured in other parts of the country after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 1428 local time (0628 GMT).

At least 50 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a school where an estimated 900 students were buried.

The BBC's Michael Bristow, in nearby Chongqing, said torrential rains had also prevented helicopters gaining access.

With communication links down, he says there is still no real indication of the death toll at the epicentre, in Wenchuan county, about 92km (57 miles) from Chengdu, Sichuan's provincial capital.

A top official from the region, Wang Bin, appealed for outside help quickly.

"We are in urgent need of tents, food, medicine and satellite communications equipment through air drop," he said.

"We also need medical workers to save the injured people here."

There were fears that China's programme to save the endangered giant panda may have been affected.

Wenchuan county is home to the Wolong Nature Reserve, the country's leading research and breeding base for pandas - but the centre could not be reached by phone.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who flew to Chengdu immediately, said China needed "calm, confidence, courage and strong leadership".

"We will definitely overcome this major disaster," he promised.

US President George W Bush expressed condolences to victims' families, while Japan offered to send aid.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7396400.stm

[Cryomaniac]

It's one major disaster after another. It's like 2005 all over again.

Don't say that, it's only May!

[lurkey]

Today's earthquake activity in China

[HURAKAN]

It's just normal, natural events occurring in places that are overpopulated. This is why so many deaths.

[lurkey]

Picture from an earlier post:

One of my Chinese friends just sent me a message, "people in Sichuan saw thousands of frogs crawling in the street, which is believed may mean something terrible." He's right.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

This is bigger earthquake then this one that killed 75,000 people in 2005. Also I believe its near the same as the big one that hit China in 1975. The only saving thing that might help is that it hit near the mountains meaning possible bed rock and less people. If this would of hit 200 miles east, then things of might of been a whole lot worst.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_earthquake

[lurkey]

Blogging a Quake, Live from Chengdu

Blog reports from Chengdu . .

[Chacor]

JIANG YOU, China (CNN) -- The death toll in the massive earthquake that rocked central China is at nearly 12,000, officials say. It comes as teams of rescuers battling through rock and mudslides Tuesday arrived at the epicenter of the earthquake.

Wang Zhenyao of the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs said 11,922 people have died in the quake centered in Sichuan province.

A string of nearly 30 seismic aftershock jolts hit the province in the first 24 hours following Monday's quake and slowing the progress of 1,300-strong rescue teams. All of those quakes were magnitude 4.0 and above.

Military doctors and soldiers arrived around midday and began their search for survivors and the injured in Wenchuan County, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

[wyq614]

Beijing is safe now, In my hometown Qingdao people didn't feel the shaking. My grandmother, living in Anshun, Guizhou Province, temporarily lost contact with us before 5pm yesterday, now she is proved safe.

Thank you all.

[angelwing]

MSNBC:

BREAKING NEWS: Chinese media says 18,645 buried in town near quake epicenter.

[Chacor]

Did they say if it was 18,645 buried alive, or 18,645 dead?

[angelwing]

Found a link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24589987/

[dizzyfish]

With about 12,000 people already confirmed dead, China's state media said Tuesday that almost another 29,000 were still thought to be buried under rubble in two cities near the epicenter of the massive earthquake that struck the day before.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/ ... 0657.shtml

[Chacor]

CHENGDU, May 13 (Xinhua) -- A senior official with the Sichuan Provincial government said Tuesday the death toll in the province has exceeded 12,000, and is still rising.

Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan, said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that the death toll was based on incomplete figures tallied by 4:00 p.m. Tuesday. He said another 26,206 people were injured, and more than 9,400 people were buried in debris.

Li also provided a breakdown of the death toll, including 161 in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, 7,395 in Mianyang City, 2,648 in Deyang City, 959 in the provincial capital Chengdu and 700 in Guangyuan City. Other casualties were reported in cities including Ya'an, Ziyang and the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

The death toll climbed from an earlier tally provided by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which put the Sichuan death toll at 11,608. Authorities said the death toll might change every hour, as they heard reports from rescuers who were seizing every minute to pull out bodies from the earthquake rubble.

The earthquake, which centered on the province's Wenchuan County at 2:28 p.m. Monday, has left the province in chaos. More than 3.46 million houses were wracked, Li said.

Li said he was deeply saddened by the super earthquake. He called on both officials and the masses in Sichuan to speed up efforts to fight the disaster and rescue themselves.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who arrived in Sichuan Monday afternoon to oversee rescue work, ordered the clearance of rocks and mud slides that were blocking roads to the epicenter by midnight on Tuesday.

"People are trapped in debris; we must use every second," he told an emergency meeting at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, a brigade of about 20 soldiers have reached Yingxiu Town of the earthquake epicenter Wenchuan, the disaster relief headquarters in the Chengdu Military Area Command said.

The soldiers reported they saw more than 70 percent of the roads in the town were wracked, and nearly all bridges collapsed. A large number of people were believed to be under the debris.

They said 3,000 people were known to have survived, and the town's total population is 12,000. No information on detailed casualties could be available.

Li Shiming, commander of the Chengdu Military Area Command, said the soldiers had distributed food and water to children and injured people in the town, and more supplies would be airdropped to the area.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008- ... 162542.htm

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

My heart goes out to everyone in the effected areas of China. This is truly a terrible tragedy, especially coming on the heels of the TC in Myanmar/Burma. They are all in my thoughts.

I actually was given a chance to study this spring (starting May 6th) in the affected areas of Southern China. I had a feeling now wasn't the right time for some odd reason (back in early February) so I skipped it, telling my disappointed professors maybe next year. The university lost contact with the group and still has yet to hear from them, spooky.

[GCANE]

Now a dam near the epicenter is in danger.

[url]http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/14/china.quake/index.html
[/url]

[lurkey]

Quake Town Threatened By Cracking Dam
Updated:16:53, Wednesday May 14, 2008

Chinese troops have rushed to plug "extremely dangerous" cracks in a dam wall, upriver from the earthquake-devastated town of Dujiangyan.

Zipingku Dam in Sichuan provinceThe state-run news agency Xinhua said that 2,000 troops had been sent to work on the Zipingku Dam in Sichuan province.

Speaking from Dujiangyan, Sky's China correspondent Peter Sharp said many local people seemed unaware of the threat.

"It (the dam) is only five kilometres away, we are downstream of it," he said.

"We understand that some of the People's Liberation Army troops that are deployed here helping with the rescue operation... 2,000 of them [have been moved] upriver to seal some serious cracks in the dam wall."

In a separate report, Xinhua said Dujiangyan would be "swamped" if there was major problems at the dam.


It reported that the water resources ministry had set-up an emergency command centre at the dam "to discharge the reservoir's rising waters and guarantee that the damage posed no threat to Dujiangyan and the neighbouring Chengdu Plain."

The discovery comes as more rescuers reach Sichuan to speed up the search for survivors.

Officials fear that time is running out for thousands still buried under rubble.

The government dispatched 54,000 troops to the southwestern region to dig for victims as the national death toll from Monday's 7.9-magnitude tremor climbed to nearly 15,000.

Xinhua said more than 14,000 people were still missing and nearly 26,000 people had been buried.

Earlier, it reported that at least 7,700 people had died in one of the small towns worst hit by the disaster.


Race is on to find survivorsSurvivors at the rural epicentre of the quake have finally begun to receive vital aid as China's army made its first airdrops of food in the stricken region.

The destruction around the epicentre in the remote county of Wenchuan is massive, with whole mountainsides sheared off, highways ripped apart and buildings flattened.

Rescue teams have been seen pulling bodies and badly-injured survivors out of the ruins of schools, factories, hospitals and houses.

In towns and villages across a swathe of Sichuan, grief-stricken families are still searching for missing loved ones.

Others are wandering the streets looking for shelter, clothes and food.

In the city of Mianzhu, where at least 3,000 died, rescuers pick through twisted metal and concrete trying to find people, whose voices can be heard coming from the rubble.

More rain is forecast for later this week, which would raise the risk of new landslides in the mountainous region.

:: Unconfirmed reports also say a group of 15 British tourists may be among those trapped following the quake