State media: 900 students buried by China quake (7.8 magnitude)

AP via Yahoo ^ | 12 May 2008 | CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

[SE Mom]

Does anyone know where China stores their nukes?

[NorseWood]

Where is the Three Gorges Dam located?

[TommyDale]

It has been estimated that the death toll was between 30 million and 40 million.

http://www.overpopulation.com/faq/famine/chinese-famine-of-1958-1961/

[TommyDale]

Reports say no damage to the dam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam

[SE Mom]

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/asian.superpower/three.gorges/yangtze.map.reference.jpg

Looks to be in the same neighborhood...

[SE Mom]

Thanks for the link- my knowledge of that history is...not what it should be.

[SE Mom]

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/facility/nuclear.htm

Map of China’s nuclear facilities

[Travis McGee]

Chinese are very superstitious, and major believers in signs and omens. I wonder what they think of the timing of this quake? It will be a major test of China's nascent “first world” status. Much more so than a long-planned and carefully staged Olympiad pageant.

[SE Mom]

BREAKING per FOX- hundreds of people buried under chemical plants that are apparently leaking hazardous chemicals into the atmosphere.

[SE Mom]

Given the size of this quake- one can’t help but wonder about 3 Gorges Dam and the nuke facilities that are nearby. Looking at the maps is unsettling.

[Zhang Fei]

BREAKING- 3,000 to 4,000 killed in just ONE province..

I think that's one township.

[SE Mom]

Many early reports are wrong- sadly the numbers are likely to change as the days go on.

[Cvengr]

Seems to have had 5.0 aftershocks every 30-45min for the next 6 hours after the large quake.

[Zhang Fei]

BREAKING- 3,000 to 4,000 killed in just ONE province..

FYI, a province is similar to a US state, except the governors are appointed by the central government. Sichuan province has 100m people (including Chongqing). That's roughly equal to the combined populations of California, Texas, New York and Florida. Area-wise, it's a little smaller than Texas and a little larger than California.

[A message]

Prayers for all caught in this tragedy.

[SE Mom]

Thanks- I’ve been looking at various maps- it’s a huge area.

[agere_contra]

Thanks for the excellent link Tommy.

We must always remember that the Great Famine in China was completely the result of Communist totalitarianism armed with bad science. Everyone of those ~35 million people died because of Agrarian Reform. Communism is the largest killer in history, many times as bad as the Doomsday flu in 1918.

[Aaron0617]

Two girls were quoted by Xinhua as saying they escaped because they had "run faster than others."

Always the main objective in these situations, and hope the best for those left behind and trapped.

[RetiredArmy]

Bill Klinton will immediately demand releasing further US military and scientific secrets to the Peoples Red Army to assist the disaster relief.

[SE Mom]

He’ll be torn between this and the cyclone victims.