8,500 Killed in Massive China Earthquake
Rescuers search the rubble of the collapsed Juyuan middle school on Monday after the massive quake devastated a region of small cities and towns set amid steep hills north of Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu. 13 May 2008
CHONGQING-A massive earthquake struck central China yesterday, killing more than 8,500 people and trapping nearly 900 students under the rubble of their school, state media reported.
CHONGQING-A massive earthquake struck central China yesterday, killing more than 8,500 people and trapping nearly 900 students under the rubble of their school, state media reported.
The official Xinhua news agency said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan county in Sichuan province after the 7.8-magnitude quake, raising fears the overall death toll could increase sharply.
The earthquake sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai. The temblor was felt as far away as Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand.
Xinhua cited the Sichuan provincial government as saying that thousands had died. Described as one of the deadliest in three decades, the quake hit about 60 miles northwest of Chengdu in the middle of the afternoon when classrooms and office towers were full. There were several smaller aftershocks, the US Geological Survey said on its website.
The temblor struck hilly country leading up to the Tibetan highlands, toppling buildings in small cities and towns in the largely rural area.
The earthquake occurred in an area with numerous fault lines that have triggered a destructive temblor before. A magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Diexi, Sichuan, that hit on Aug. 25, 1933, killed more than 9,300 people.
Xinhua said 50 bodies had been pulled from the debris of the school building in Juyuan town but did not say if the children were alive. Xinhua reported students also were buried under five other toppled schools in Deyang city. Xinhua said its reporters saw buried teenagers struggling to break loose from the rubble of the three-story building in Juyuan while others were crying out for help.
Two girls were quoted by Xinhua as saying they escaped because they had run faster than others.
Photos showed heavy cranes trying to remove rubble from the ruined school. Other photos posted on the Internet and found on the Chinese search engine Baidu showed arms and a torso sticking out of the rubble of the school as dozens of people worked to free them, using their hands to move concrete slabs.
Calls into the city did not go through as panicked residents quickly overloaded the telephone system. The quake affected telephone and power networks, and even state media appeared to have few details of the disaster.
In Chengdu, mobile telecommunication converters have experienced jams and thousands of servers were out of service, said Sha Yuejia, deputy chief executive officer of China Mobile.
Xinhua said an underground water pipe ruptured near the citys southern railway station, flooding a main thoroughfare. Reporters saw buildings with cracks in their walls but no collapses, Xinhua said.
The earthquake also rattled buildings in Beijing, some 930 miles to the north, less than three months before the Chinese capital was expected to be full of hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors for the Summer Olympics.
Many Beijing office towers were evacuated, including the building housing the media offices for the organizers of the Olympics, which start in August. None of the Olympic venues were damaged.
Raw : Rescue Operations After China QuakeThe earthquake sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai. The temblor was felt as far away as Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand.
Xinhua cited the Sichuan provincial government as saying that thousands had died. Described as one of the deadliest in three decades, the quake hit about 60 miles northwest of Chengdu in the middle of the afternoon when classrooms and office towers were full. There were several smaller aftershocks, the US Geological Survey said on its website.
The temblor struck hilly country leading up to the Tibetan highlands, toppling buildings in small cities and towns in the largely rural area.
The earthquake occurred in an area with numerous fault lines that have triggered a destructive temblor before. A magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Diexi, Sichuan, that hit on Aug. 25, 1933, killed more than 9,300 people.
Xinhua said 50 bodies had been pulled from the debris of the school building in Juyuan town but did not say if the children were alive. Xinhua reported students also were buried under five other toppled schools in Deyang city. Xinhua said its reporters saw buried teenagers struggling to break loose from the rubble of the three-story building in Juyuan while others were crying out for help.
Two girls were quoted by Xinhua as saying they escaped because they had run faster than others.
Photos showed heavy cranes trying to remove rubble from the ruined school. Other photos posted on the Internet and found on the Chinese search engine Baidu showed arms and a torso sticking out of the rubble of the school as dozens of people worked to free them, using their hands to move concrete slabs.
Calls into the city did not go through as panicked residents quickly overloaded the telephone system. The quake affected telephone and power networks, and even state media appeared to have few details of the disaster.
In Chengdu, mobile telecommunication converters have experienced jams and thousands of servers were out of service, said Sha Yuejia, deputy chief executive officer of China Mobile.
Xinhua said an underground water pipe ruptured near the citys southern railway station, flooding a main thoroughfare. Reporters saw buildings with cracks in their walls but no collapses, Xinhua said.
The earthquake also rattled buildings in Beijing, some 930 miles to the north, less than three months before the Chinese capital was expected to be full of hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors for the Summer Olympics.
Many Beijing office towers were evacuated, including the building housing the media offices for the organizers of the Olympics, which start in August. None of the Olympic venues were damaged.
Update:
Death toll is now estmated at 12,000, by some news sources.
Labels: China
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