Posted on 05/12/2008 9:38:33 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
An earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter Scale knocked out mobile phone service in the western Chinese city of Chengdu, although fixed-line networks remained in service, Chinese state television reported Monday afternoon.
About 2,300 base stations were affected by power outages or transmission problems, China Mobile's Sichuan office told the state-run Xinhua News Agency, adding that repairs were under way. China is the nation's and world's largest mobile service provider.
Service was affected in both southwestern Sichuan province, and in northwestern Shaanxi province, Xinhua reported, although those two areas do not abut. China Mobile also said that call volume had increased by 10 times what is normal but connections were down by half as a result of the earthquake.
China's online video sites were quick to receive footage shot during the earthquake by users, footage that did not appear on CCTV's nightly newscast, which is carried by most major channels. One clip, labeled "Chengdu Earthquake," showed students in a classroom or dormitory room hiding under their desks, as debris falls from the ceiling. "Don't move, don't move, it's ok," the photographer says to a student who emerges from cover too quickly. Footage from Chengdu would also seem to confirm the availability of Internet service there.
The semiconductor industry and China's growing software outsourcing industry take advantage of Chengdu's status as China's fifth-largest city and southwest China's largest academic center.
Although the Chengdu region is not considered a major manufacturing center for semiconductors, Intel began semiconductor manufacturing there in 2005, and employs 600 at a testing and assembly facility in Chengdu.
"We are now determining if this has implications for Intel's operation in Chengdu. Our first priority is the safety of our people," said Danny Cheung, an Intel spokesman based in Singapore, ......
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
Who did you say it was brother?
Who was it fell by the way?
I saw the quake in the dorm room
But I didn’t see anyone pray.
so does this mean Mt. Everest just got a little taller?
The torch was just there, yaknow. :-)
Death toll, damages climb in Chinese earthquake
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- China reeled from its most severe earthquake in nearly 60 years Monday, with authorities ratcheting up the death toll in the hours after the quake hit the Sichuan province to more than 8,500, at last count.
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