Earthquake in China Kills Nearly 20,000 (update 3)

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Earthquake in China Kills Nearly 20,000 (update 3)

NASA image showing locations of earthquakes and aftershocks in Sichuan Province, China. (NASA)

CRACKED DAMS: Almost 400 dams suffered structural damage after Monday’s earthquake in Sichuan province. As the Chinese work to repair the dams, continuing aftershocks as large as yesterday’s 5.5-magnitude threaten to crack them further.

by Thea Deley
Informify Staff Writer
May 15, 2008

Relief efforts now focused on distributing food and medical aid to victims, searching for survivors, and burying or burning the dead. International aid pours into the country, from donations to relief teams.

Sichuan Earthquake: Quick Facts

Quake Hit:	May 12, 2008
Confirmed Dead:	19,500
Still Missing:	10,200
Still Buried:	12,300
Aid Needed:	food and water, tents for shelter, medical aid, blankets, clothes, rubber boats, cranes, demolition equipment, hammers and shovels, communication gear, more relief workers

Current Threats to Earthquake Survivors

Time—humans can survive just three days without water; at this point, some people have been buried beneath rubble for four days
Hunger and dehydration—one town, Yingxiu, has been without drinking water since Wednesday
Disease—aid workers have already inoculated many survivors and provided clean drinking water
Corpses—need to bury or burn the huge number of bodies quickly for health reasons
Damaged dams—cracks in dams, especially older dams, may flood nearby towns; engineers have declared the dam nearest the epicenter (511-foot Zipingku Dam) safe

New Relief Developments

Right now relief efforts are focused on distributing food and medical aid to victims, searching for survivors, and burying or burning the dead. International aid pours into the country, from donations to relief teams.

Japan sending a specially trained earthquake rescue team
Taiwan sending a rescue team
Other countries sending in relief teams include Russia, South Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Germany, Vietnam and Poland
$100 million in international aid and $10 million in materials donated so far
130,000 Chinese soldiers and police working on relief efforts; roads to Wenchuan and Beichuan counties now cleared, now shoring up damaged dams

China put aside its long and troubled history with both Japan and Taiwan to accept aid from them.

China Will Not Give up Hope

The likelihood of finding people alive in the rubble rapidly dwindles as time passes. The Chinese government, however, says rescue efforts will continue. "We will never give up hope, said Vice Health Minister Gao Qiang. “For every thread of hope, our efforts will increase a hundredfold. We will never give up." (Associated Press, 5/15/08)

Original Story

Earthquake in China Kills Nearly 15,000 (update 2)

Sources

Parents hope at quake-destroyed schools (CNN, 5/15/08)

Earthquake dams pose floods risk (BBC, 5/15/08)

China: Quake death toll could reach 50,000 (Associated Press, 5/15/08)

Question for Readers:

Do you think Japan and Taiwan’s generous response to this tragedy may motivate China to heal its divisive relationships with them?

"Generally speaking, anyone buried in an earthquake can survive without water and food for three days. After that, it's usually a miracle for anyone to survive."