Officials: China orders probe of school collapses in quake

www.chinaview.cn [Xinhua] ^ | 2008-05-16

[brityank]

SS-DC !!

Same sh*t - different country! :^)

Graft and corruption are no stranger to these shores, as your missives have pointed out. Bob Bullard must be a friend of yours, no? ;^)

[Travis McGee]

Very true. I hope the Chinese learn an important lesson here, and I trust they will. I also very much hope their dams hold.

[brityank]

I saw one pic of a team on top of a dam, with a 4-6 inch wide crack running along the top from one side to the other. That doesn’t bode well for it’s stability, and another quake or flooding deluge will topple it. Heaven help anyone downstream. I too hope they hold, and that the Chinese will be able to draw down the impoundments to effect a good repair.

[old-and-old]

In Turkey a while back I remember reading about mass arrests of construction officials, right after a massive earthquake. Chicoms will want blood from someone. Contractors should stay low or move...even North Korea is safer.

[old-and-old]

thanks. I looked at the pix again. Usually there is always crumbled steel hanging, not in these buildings apparently.

[stlnative]

Thanks for the ping.
It is so very sad that so many children had to die due cheap sh*tty construction of schools.

Another thing that is so STUPID is building at foot the of mountains. (I guess the rent is real cheap there)


A survivor carrying goods evacuates the area past a huge rock lying on top of a car on a road near a mountain in the centre of earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 16, 2008. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

[stlnative]

Oooo I would like to see that picture. If if you run across it again please post it.

[BunnySlippers]

Northridge quake was 6.7. Schools withstood it but I hope we are lucky next time.

[Roccus]

NYC is rife with unreinforced brick buildings. An earthquake that would be of little consequence on the west coast would be disastrous there.

[stlnative]

This is a decent map that shows towm locations.

[stlnative]

This shows the epicenter being closer to the Dam.

[stlnative]

This handout satellite image (L) taken by Taiwan's FORMOSAT-2 on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 and released on May 16, 2008, shows the areas (in brown) devastated by Monday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Beichuan County of southwest China's Sichuan province. The photo would compare the same areas in an image taken in 2006 (R).

[brityank]

Here it is; I saved it on my PC but didn't save the location I got it from.

Crack at Fengshou Reservoir Dam

[brityank]

Looking at the amount of destruction that the landslides have caused, I doubt there is any safe place to go. Up on the hillsides and risk a slide, or in front of a dam and hope to swim. No good choices.

[stlnative]

Thanks - in this country that is more like a levee.

[stlnative]

here is the location on the picture (I just found it)
http://english.sina.com/p/1/2008/0516/159326.html

[stlnative]

I feel for all these children greatly. After they all heal can you imagine the high axiety and the fears they will have when they have to return back to school.

Maybe the Chinese will get smart and only build ground level schools in the future. Yes it will take up more land
but the young lives it it will save in the future during the next big quake is well worth it.

[brityank]

Thanks, added that into my list.

There are many earthen dams, some as high as 100 feet or more. They have concrete spillways and some support structures, but the main part is just a pile of dirt -- a very big pile. :^)

[stlnative]

It just gets worse...

100,000 trapped in Pengzhou City
2008-05-16 15:28:51 ET SINA English

Beijing, May 17 — About 400,000 people in Pengzhou City have been affected by the deadly earthquake, of which 100,000 victims are trapping amomg the mountains, a report from Xinhua said.

Xinhua reporters drove into Pengzhou in early morning, May 16. It is the first time that reporters entered into Pengzhou areas.

Pengzhou, a city 20 kilometres away from Chengdu, has a population of 800,000.

http://english.sina.com/china/1/2008/0516/159402.html

[stlnative]

Rescue team searches and cleans at Nanba Elementary School, Nanba Town, Qingwu County, Mianyang, Sichuan Province, May 15. (Xinhua Photo/Jiang Yi)