[brityank]

The loss of so many children is a tragedy, but I wonder just how well our US schools would survive under similar conditions. I understand that the specifications were set for a Magnitude 5.5 earthquake, and masonry multi-story buildings need more than just rebar for safety.

[brityank]

New article on damage and pending investigation.

[Roccus]

Unreinforced brick buildings do not fare well in earthquakes. From the look of those pictures, that's what they were

[TigersEye]

It's hard to account for everything when building. If they built to withstand a 7.8 (not sure how possible that is) who is to say a bigger quake will never happen?

My heart goes out to all the many who are suffering there now.

[TXnMA]

"If quality problems do exist in the school buildings, we will deal with the persons responsible strictly with no toleration and give the public a satisfying answer..."

Typical leftist dictatorship approach:

1. Find a scapegoat.

2. Punish the scapegoat severely.

3. Pump out the propaganda to placate the people.

Nothing about bringing in their brightest and best to learn from the damage and design safer buildings...

[texas booster]

An Asian friend pointed out that these kids were born under China's “One Child” policy, even though it is probably less enforced in Western China.

I read that over 3,500 schools were damaged. With an average of ?? maybe 800 per school, that could be over 250,000 families who were directly affected by this quake, plus extended families.

Its the kind of social upheaval that even China's society could have a problem withstanding.

Parents will put up with almost anything, but to have so many children torn away from life or severely injured could be dangerous to the leadership.

Watch for scapegoats galore.

[spanalot]

And notice not a piece of rebar in sight in all that rubble.

[ken21]

they can start with the long beach quake of 1933:

masonry buildings collapsed, killing lots of people.

the state of california began earthquake standards for buildings.

[brityank]

Meant to ping you to this; thanks for your threads.

[Travis McGee]

Who needs rebar anyway? Concrete is strong enough. Just put the rebar money in your pocket, comrade!

[BunnySlippers]

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

[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).

[stlnative]

Student ID tags are placed on the ground at the Juyuan Middle School, in Dujiangyan, in China's southwest Sichuan province Saturday, May 17, 2008. All but a handful of the school's 900 students were killed when the school collapsed in Monday's earthquake. China is to launch an investigation into why almost 7000 schoolrooms were destroyed and thousands of children killed in the earthquake, after accusations that the schools were shoddily built.(AP Photo/Greg Baker)