Posted on 05/14/2008 12:37:27 AM PDT by stlnative
China quake toll soars as full horror begins to emerge
14/05/2008
DUJIANGYAN (AFP) - The full horror of the devastating China earthquake began to emerge Wednesday as rescuers discovered whole towns all but wiped off the map, pushing the death toll well above 20,000.
Military and police teams punched into the heart of the disaster zone, with 100 troops parachuting into a county that was previously cut off while planes and helicopters air-dropped emergency supplies.
But the message that came back from this mountainous corner of southwestern Sichuan province was that town after town was flattened by the 7.9-magnitude quake that struck two days ago.
The death toll has soared well above 20,000, but that toll is rising by the hour as more information comes in from stricken communities.
"The losses have been severe," Wang Yi, who heads an armed police unit sent into the epicentre zone, was quoted as saying by Sichuan Online news site.
"Some towns basically have no houses left. They have all been razed to the ground."
A least 7,700 people died in the small town of Yingxiu alone, state media cited a local government official as saying, with only 2,300 surviving.
Across Sichuan, countless thousands more people are missing or buried under the rubble of shattered homes, schools and factories.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said 100,000 military personnel and police had been mobilised, indicating the epic scale of the country's worst earthquake in a generation.
The air drop started with planes and helicopters flying dozens of sorties, dropping tonnes of food and relief aid into the worst-hit zone, most of it cut off from the outside world by landslides and road closures.
The destruction around the epicentre in remote Wenchuan county is massive, with whole mountainsides sheared off, highways ripped apart and building after building levelled.
Rescue teams have been seen pulling bodies and badly injured survivors out of the ruins.
As well as Yingxiu, CCTV television said air drops were also made in nearby Mianyang -- where the death toll jumped to nearly 5,500 -- as well as Mianzhu and Pengzhou.
Helicopters also flew to Wenchuan with food, drinks, tents, communications equipment and other supplies.
The rescue effort has been badly disrupted since Monday by heavy rain, and the Meteorological Authority forecasting more later in the week, raising the risk of fresh landslides.
Amid the setbacks, the nation focused on the precious minutes going by for those who were buried under rubble but may have survived.
Cries for help were heard from a flattened school in Yingxiu, where people were forced to try and dig out survivors with their hands, state media said.
"The situation in Yingxiu is even worse than expected," one local official said.
In towns and villages across a swathe of Sichuan, heart-rending scenes were played out as grief-stricken families searched for missing loved ones.
In the city of Mianzhu, where at least 3,000 died, rescuers picked through twisted metal and concrete trying to find people whose voices could be heard under the rubble.
"My younger brother is in there," 42-year-old Li -- his eyes bloodshot from sleep deprivation -- said next to a heap that was once a bank.
The local disaster relief headquarters said rescuers had been able to pull 500 people alive out of the debris of collapsed buildings, but 20,000 in three outer villages were still out of reach.
Wednesday's leg of the Olympic torch relay in eastern Jianxi province began with a minute's silence before the runners set off.
Organisers of the Beijing Olympics said they would scale down the relay as the torch makes it way to the capital for the summer Games, a further knock to its troubled round-the-world journey after earlier protests over Tibet.
World powers including the United States, European Union and United Nations as well as the International Olympic Committee have rallied round with offers of help.
China welcomed the offers but said conditions were "not yet ripe" to allow in foreign rescue teams, citing damage to transport links.
A Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of emergency aid said Japan offered rescue teams with sniffer dogs, but China had made no request.
US President George W. Bush and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao discussed the disaster by telephone, with Washington offering half a million dollars in initial disaster aid.
China is not some little island nation. They have a population of 1.3 billion, and a GDP of $7 trillion. Their army has 2.3 million troops. They have modern helicopters and trucks. They have plenty of their own resources they can mobilize, their own stocks of food, water, etc.
I know! I got up 1st thing this morning to hear the latest on the news. Nothing for the longest time (30-45 minutes?). I heard again about the girl that was kicked out of her prom because her dress was risque. So what, many thousands of people died overnight and they kept harping about the prom dress.
Finally right before I started to head to work, I picked up just a snippet on one of the stations. Just a one or two linger. Had to be Fox or HNN. Fox was just full of fluff this morning.
yes, the USGS ramped up their food requirements after Katrina and seeing it take FEMA 5 days to deliver ice to the Super Dome.
Quake Town Threatened By Cracking Dam
Updated:16:53, Wednesday May 14, 2008
Chinese troops have rushed to plug “extremely dangerous” cracks in a dam wall, upriver from the earthquake-devastated town of Dujiangyan.
The state-run news agency Xinhua said that 2,000 troops had been sent to work on the Zipingku Dam in Sichuan province.
Speaking from Dujiangyan, Sky’s China correspondent Peter Sharp said many local people seemed unaware of the threat.
“It (the dam) is only five kilometres away, we are downstream of it,” he said.
“We understand that some of the People’s Liberation Army troops that are deployed here helping with the rescue operation... 2,000 of them [have been moved] upriver to seal some serious cracks in the dam wall.”
In a separate report, Xinhua said Dujiangyan would be “swamped” if there was major problems at the dam.
~SNIP~ (8 page article at link)
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1315944,00.html
30,000 missing or out of reach in one single Chinese city after earthquake
2008-05-14 23:56:18
CHENGDU, May 14 (Xinhua) — More than 30,000 people were missing or out of reach in the quake-hit Shifang City, as the death toll climbed above 2,500, according to the local government.
About 238 students were buried, and 147 were missing, according to the latest update posted at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on the government website (www.shifang.gov.cn).
More than 10,000 people have been injured, and the total loss was estimated to be 40 billion yuan, it said.
An official surnamed Zou in the city government publicity department told Xinhua that some of the missing people were miners in small towns.
Shifang came under focus when the earthquake destroyed two chemical plant in the Yinghua town and caused the leakage of 80 tonnes of ammonia, forcing more than 6,000 people to evacuate.
Zou said the leak has been capped, and no one had died because of it.
About 1,000 troops have been parachuted into the area for the rescue, and about 10,000 people are staying in government shelters.
The city has a population of about 430,000 people.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/14/content_8172607.htm
I wonder if it’s because the thread was so large and had so many pictures?? At home it kept locking up and going slow and I’m on DSL, my guess was because of all the pictures. Maybe not but it’s something to consider.
And of course the bad side is, maybe they aren’t able to find a new thread. Trying to become familiar with a strange site, especially if written in a foreign language would be quite daunting.
China Says Troops Rushing to Plug Cracks in Zipingpu Dam
Last Edited: Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 12:44 PM EDT
Created: Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 8:16 AM EDT
By AUDRA ANG
Associated Press Writer
HANWANG, China — Thousands of Chinese soldiers rushed on Wednesday to repair a dam badly cracked by the country’s massive earthquake, while rescuers arrived for the first time in the epicenter of the disaster.
China’s top economic planning body said that the quake had damaged 391 mostly small dams. It left “extremely dangerous” cracks in the Zipingpu Dam upriver from the earthquake-hit city of Dujiangyan and some 2,000 soldiers were sent to repair the damage, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xinhua said Dujiangyan would be “swamped” if major problems emerged at the dam.
He Biao, the director of the Aba Disaster Relief headquarters in northern Sichuan province, said there were also concerns over dams closer to the epicenter.
“Currently, the most dangerous problems are several reservoirs near Wenchuan,” he said, according to a transcript on the CCTV Web site.
“There are already serious problems with the Tulong Reservoir on the Min River. It may collapse. If that happens, it would affect several power plants below and be extremely dangerous,” he said.
~SNIP~ (more at link)
http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6537128&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.4.1
Thanks Charles. Yes, prayers up.
The death toll here in the US would be staggering from a 7.9.
From my understanding this is a very populated area; and we know their building codes are not up western standards in most buildings.
Gareth, I’m not sure what the Citizen’s of China buy, that their government puts out. My emphasis has been on how we see the Chinese people.
If I infered that the Chinese people dislike us, it wasn’t intentional. I just suspect they may have reasons to think the U.S. isn’t their friend.
If that’s not the case in Shanghai, or other places in China, I’m glad to hear it.
As for the Chinese people knowing the states better than we know China, I wonder why that would be? One nation that has been a closed society until relatively recently, and one nation that has been as open as can be for a couple of centuries.
I have tried ot learn more about China. I would imagine others have too.
Thanks for your perspective on things. I apprecaite it.
New Quake Videos...
‘Moment The ‘Quake Hit Chengdu’
http://video.news.sky.com/skynews/video/?&videoSourceID=1316068&flashURL=/feeds/skynews/latest/flash/chinahits_140508_1600.flv
‘Amateur footage of China quake’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7401344.stm
we have MANY issues with China, serious, strategic, religious, social, political, commercial, environmental, industrial, competitive, cooperative issues - but to discuss these issues with a starting point of “little or nothing has changed since the 1980’s” is simply nonsensical. The changes have been enormous - one can interpret these changes as for better or worse, but to say there have been no change shows a fundamental lack of knowledge.
maybe you should consider spending another month in Chengdu now and update your perspective.
You’re the second person to state that the Chinese don’t hate us. It wasn’t my intention to infer otherwise. I didn’t think that they did. If you’ll look at my comments, the inference was that they may think we did based on perceptions their government may have handed down. If that’s not the case, I’m glad to hear it.
My parents have traveled to China, and were treated with a great deal of respect there. I don’t travel there, and I don’t know what the perception is throughout the nation. That’s all I am addressing.
I appreciate your comments about the historical impact on China of the U.S. involvement in WWII. That was interesting. I haven’t studied what the U.S. did in China. I’m sure it would be interesting.
You take care.
Thanks for the post. Quite good...
Thank you Laberphany. I wasn’t trying to offend you. I know that when there are hundreds of thousands or millions of people involved, there are needs beyond what one nation can provide. Even at the best, you can’t be everywhere at once.
I appreciate your response. I think I understand your point, and I’m sorry if I offended you.
Best wishes.
Take care...
And of course the bad side is, maybe they aren’t able to find a new thread. Trying to become familiar with a strange site, especially if written in a foreign language would be quite daunting.
I don't know, it's not locking up for me. And if he wanted them to find his new thread, he could have just pinged them to it like he did, instead of adding (in huge font) this is the "new" thread and that's the "old" one.
That's not cool to confuse these new people. Plus, it would be common courtesy to tell me why he did it. I've posted to him twice (very courteously) and still haven't received an answer. Weird.
I agree...just wanted to make a point that human life in China is not regarded the same as it is in the western world.
Thanks Rick. You had a unique perspective. I appreciate your input.
I have been following the Chinese military buildup. My guess had been five to fifteen years, but I am open to just about any educated guess.
What the Chinese people care or don’t care about isn’t what concerns me. It’s their government. IMO, the top dogs are caloused cut-throats. It’s my perspective that they would be willing to accept what we might think of as massive losses on their side, just to become the number one nation on the block.
As you say, we don’t think like they do. It causes us to ignore the possibilities until the missiles are raining in. I had sought to avoid China getting the jump start it has, through trade, intellectual technology transfers, and its U.S. funded military build-up. Unfortunately the almighty buck was more important than any of this to the Free-Traitors.
I don’t like what I see just ahead. And look at the crop of leaders we’re selecting. This is all coming together for our enemies, all the pieces in place at one time.
Thanks for your comments.
Thanks Brityank. Your comments are reasoned. I agree.
Thank you for your thoughtful post Ninesongs. I may have been off base to say what I did, so I appologize. I had not meant to insult anyone, and if I did, I am sorry.
I respect your people, so I would not seek to insult them.
My consern here was to make sure every resource was used to save as many lives as possible. I hope you understand that.
Thanks for the inclusion of the poem. It was nice, and did address the regional access issues. Like you said, it does paint a vivid picture.
You take care. Every good wish for your people, especially those going through this very tough time.
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