Earthquake of a magnitude 7.8 reported in China *UPDATE* 'to top 50,000' killed

This is still an UNCONFIRMED table.... trying to get verification.



My counting is 16897 deathtoll

15 May 2008 10:16h
Area..........................Casulties......Wounded.......Buried/Unknown........Trapped
Sichuan 四川:
MianYang 绵阳.............7395............2323.............18486.......................1396
DeYang 德阳................6049............21020...........6200.........................2600
ChengDu 成都..............1215............5735
GuangYuan 广元...........1479............14838...........1102
YaAn 雅安....................20................421
ABaChuan 阿坝州..........161............725............11

Americans helping a hand


American student assisting medical team


Foreigners: exchange students, school teachers helping the rescue teams.

Last night on CCTV1 I saw that our premier visitted a group of tourists or expats, and it was confirmed China will accept foreign help and will start making a list what is needed, either material (food/medicine), equipment or personnel.

[edit on 14/5/08 by IchiNiSan]

about the Dam..

there is a Dam on upper reach of Min river which is the epicentre along side with.. and the Three Gorge Dam is located at relatively lower reach of yangzt river in hubei province.. so it is safe.

as for the Dam on Min river, some experts has examined it carefully and found it is OK now that makes me feel rest a little.

reply to post by wwssii


Ah okay. Thanks much for the information

So hypothetically if it did break, how devastating would that be?

That's just my curiosity. I am very happy to hear they think it's structurally intact!

Ichi and wwssi, thank you for the detailed up dates. I am happy to know that so many have been rescued.

Have either of you heard anything about the blockage of two rivers in Qingcuan? (I think I spelled that correctly)
I heard that the rivers had formed a lake and landslides were likely.

It seems like the response, even in lieu of such a massive catastrophe, has been fairly rapid. That's heartening to know, at the very least.

This may be a silly question, but do you guys believe that it's really true that every drop in the bucket helps? I ask this because my drop in the bucket, as it were, would be pretty small unfortunately. I want to do something though.

And are we of the general consensus that the Chinese red cross is the way to go?

Originally posted by AceWombat04

And are we of the general consensus that the Chinese red cross is the way to go?

I donated through Mercycorps. You will get an email immediately, and a postal mail later (can be used for tax deduction)

www.mercycorps.org...

To check their rating:
www.charitynavigator.org...


You also can donate through American Red Cross. But I heard some bad stories about them after Katrina, such as the salary of their CEO was $640000 and they paid $100 for a $30 tent. I am not sure.

to witness and lucid

when i knew that there is a Dam near the epicentre, i also worry about the circumstance there.. 3000+ afterquakes, mudslide, heavy rain, everthing is big concern in these days..

yes, some lakes were formed there because of the river blocked.. i am not clear the stater there now. maybe not so severe.. arm troops have transport rescue forces to some counties and return with wounded by boat along the river. but it is dangerous for the rockflow from mountain and the sudd or something like this floating in the river.. so it is only done in daylight.. a journalist even falled in the river during the boat traveling, but he is safe finally..

as for the donation, i am not clear of the efficiency of red cross or other charity organs.. but after watching the harrowing scene by TV, i cant think too much about this.. just do it and make myself feel better.. indeed a huge tragedy, but there are also many moving stories there.. when i heard such news that a teacher use his body to protect 4 kids under a desk, the teacher died when rescue reached them but the kids survived, i cant help but tear..

reply to post by Witness2008


i am not clear if the formed lakes are dangerous or not.. maybe not so severe since arm troops has used boat to transport rescue forces to epicenter and return with the badly wounded.. it is at big stake because of the rockslide, sudd or something like that. a journalist falled in the river for encountering a big whirlpool during the process, but they are safe finally.

really a huge tragedy, but also there are many many moving stories.. a teacher protected 4 kids under desk with his own body and he died while the kids survived. when i heard this news, i can't help but tear.

now , Japan gave chinese big aids and their generous civilian donation also touched chinese greatly.. so, facing the tradegy, human stand the same position.

reply to post by AceWombat04


If you know that 1 RMB over here is only USD 0.145 or EURO 0.09

And that an average Chinese in that area only earn about RMB 600-800 (Already estimated on the high side), then you might know that every "drop of the bucket" indeed will help a lot....

So any help will be welcome!



[edit on 15/5/08 by IchiNiSan]

this is discracefull

Given that exchange rate, then if everyone here donated even a few dollars it could really add up! I didn't know that at all. Yet again the members of ATS enlighten the darkness of ignorance. Thanks!

Sad to see the death toll is going up every day

China quake toll rises to 20,000; army helps survivors - Summary

Beijing - The confirmed death toll from a devastating earthquake in south-western China rose to about 20,000 Thursday, as troops stepped up efforts to rescue survivors and get vital aid to tens of thousands of people in isolated towns and villages. The Sichuan provincial government said it had confirmed more than 19,500 deaths following Monday's quake, while neighbouring provinces had already reported more than 300 deaths.

Source

Official Death Toll reaches 19,509 And the government is officially estimating a final death toll over 50,000 tragic....

There is a debate in Chinese forum:
Can helicopter fly in heavy rain?
I want to ask my American friends, whether helicopter of your air force
have the experience flying in heavy rain condition?
and what about airborne?

[edit on 15-5-2008 by gs001]

Satellite pictures of BeiChuan.

reply to post by gs001


My comment to those guys:

Rescue work need to be done when the rescue workers themselves are not at unnecessary risk. Don't even mention about the rescue worker's own life (because I assume they are willing to risk it), but rationally thinking if the helicopter is damaged, eventually you might save even less people.....

I think it is a good indication of the future path of humanity that so many people have put aside their petty differences during this awful time. In the final analysis, we are not Germans or Chinese or Americans, we are humans, who live and love and bleed and cry and laugh the same the worldover. It would do us well to always keep this in our minds.

My deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones, and to those who are injured. I hope that all our ATS friends in the area are safe. I will do my small part to assist the relief effort through the avenues available to me.

Peace and well being to each and all.

NPR was in Sichuan to do another story all together when the earthquake hit.

My friends Richard and Becky Stormer who are teaching english there are 2 of about 80 other foreigners in Mianyang, a city of 1,000,000.

Here is a link to the NPR interview with Becky about the earthquake and how they are coping. her husband can be heard toward the end saying that they had to get out of their building NOW.

www.npr.org...


[edit on 15-5-2008 by grover]

Many people have no idea how strong this earthquake is.

It is 107 times stronger than 1994 Los Angeles earthquake.

en.wikipedia.org...