China Hit By Earthquake

Drudge Report ^ | Updated:08:00, Monday May 12, 2008 | Sky News

[Lijahsbubbe]

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale has hit China's Sichuan province. The tremor was felt across the entire region - shaking buildings in the capital, Beijing, as well as the Thai capital, Bangkok, and Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. US Geological Survey said the quake struck 57 miles north-west of the city of Chengdu at 2.29pm local time (6.28am GMT).

Some 10 million people live in Chengdu.

[Heatseeker]

I was also one who believed the government in Beijing would under-report the magnitude of this story. Apparently I was wrong and for that I am sorry.

I am glad your father is OK but prayers for your classmates’ families in the affected area.

[firewalk]

prayers

[bd476]

Thanks for the ping, Global2010.

[peggybac]

After living in Southern California for almost 20 years, I’m happy to be out of there and away from earthquakes. It’s nice to go to bed at night and not have in the back of your mind that the big one could hit any minute. The 1994 Northridge quake was quite enough for me, thank you!

[Rushmore Rocks]

Thanks for the ping. I’ve been following this for several hours. Prayers up for all involved.

[don-o]

Three new signs ups on the thread, two of whom purport to be posting from the PRC.

Hmmmm

[bd476]

Summary

Estimated Population Exposed to Earthquake Shaking

Est. Modified Mercalli Intensity	Est. Population Exposure (k = x1000)	Perceived Shaking	Potential Structure Damage
			Resistant	Vulnerable
X	117k	Extreme	V. Heavy	V. Heavy
IX	92k	Violent	Heavy	V. Heavy
VIII	866k	Severe	Moderate/Heavy	Heavy
VII	4,781k	Very Strong	Moderate	Moderate/Heavy
VI	13,538k	Strong	Light	Moderate
V	43,966k*	Moderate	V. Light	Light
IV	2,875k*	Light	None	None
II-III	--*	Weak	None	None
I	--*	Not Felt	None	None

*Estimated exposure only includes population within the map area.

Population Exposure

 Population per ˜1 square km from Landscan 2005

Selected City Exposure

MMI	City	Population
VII	Tianpeng	60k
VI	Linqiong	55k
VI	Chengdu	3950k
VI	Jiangyou	127k
VI	Mianyang	264k
VI	Deyang	152k
V	Tongchuan	58k
V	Neijiang	546k
V	Nanchong	7150k
V	Zigong	689k
V	Yibin	242k

Shaking Intensity

    MMI

Users should consider the preliminary nature of this information and check for updates as additional data becomes available. Population exposure estimates are NOT a direct estimate of earthquake damage; comparable shaking will result in significantly lower losses in regions with well built structures than in regions with vulnerable structures.

Map of MMI contours plotted over population per ˜1 square km (see gray scale bar on top of map). The regions of integer MMI values are separated by the thick contour lines and labeled with Roman numerals. The total population exposure to a given MMI value is obtained by summing the population between the thick contour lines. This total is shown in population exposure table.Exposure table

Map of shaking intensity. This map shows the estimated MMI as a continuous color scale. The ground shaking estimates can be obtained from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/shakemap/.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Happy Birthday!

Too bad these quakes can’t take care of the terrorists and dictators who cause such sorrow in our world.

[r9etb]

Three new signs ups on the thread, two of whom purport to be posting from the PRC. Hmmmm

[Lijahsbubbe]

Odd title for a disaster story.

This headline is different from the one I originally posted. More like it should read: "Update, children reported killed in collapsed school."

[bd476]

You're welcome and thanks to Lijahsbubbe for posting the information and keeping this updated. Prayers for all in this devastating quake.

[ßuddaßudd]

I smell it too....

[MARKUSPRIME]

Very odd indeed. Just keep an eye on them in the future just incase chicom propaganda becomes apparent. However I do wish no innocent people are killed by natural disasters. I do loath and despise the communist chinese party and will continue to bash them and destroy their misinformation whenever I can..

[lzb86404]

Thank you all. The death toll would be much highter. Many school buildings collapsed, it’ll nees a long time to take them out.

[lzb86404]

I’m waitting for more details..

[MARKUSPRIME]

Look at the views of this thread. Something is strange methinks...

[bd476]

Video taking during the earthquake inside student dorm. Turn the volume down a little before playing.

Youtube: Chinese students taking shelter under desks at time of earthquake

Added: May 12, 2008 (Less info)

Sichuan University student takes video at 2:29pm in dorm.

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake shook Wenchuan County, Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China at 14:28:04 local time (06:28:04 GMT). It had a magnitude of 7.8 Mw according to the State Seismological Bureau of China and United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, where office buildings swayed with the impact and Vietnam capital Hanoi.The closest major city from the earthquake's epicenter is Chengdu.

The epicenter was at 31.084°N, 103.267°E, in Wenchuan County, Ngawa Prefecture, 90 km northwest of Chengdu, Sichuan, China, with its main tremor so far occurring at 14:28:04 local time (06:28:04 am GMT) on Monday 12 May 2008. Early reports of the earthquake's Richter scale magnitude ranged from 7.6 to 8.0. Five major aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.0 to 6.0 were recorded within two hours of the main tremor.

Office workers in Chengdu reported a "continuous shaking for about two or three minutes", with many people rushing outside.

Sky News report on You Tube

[Lijahsbubbe]

I was also one who believed the government in Beijing would under-report the magnitude of this story. Apparently I was wrong and for that I am sorry.

Don't be. There's no reason for anyone to trust the Chinese government.

[Global2010]

Yeah when I tuned in at 4am ish it was different.

Huh.

And the news just said 3000 dead from quake.

SO perhaps whom ever is updating YOUR thread title should update it again.