6.9 Quake kills over 1100 in China

[HURAKAN]

China Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 400
Updated: Wednesday, 14 Apr 2010, 9:01 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 14 Apr 2010, 8:59 AM EDT

(AFP) - A strong earthquake rocked northwestern China on Wednesday, killing at least 400 people and injuring another 8,000 as it toppled houses in a remote mountainous area, China state television reported.

Many houses collapsed, roads were damaged or blocked by landslides and telecommunications were also disrupted, local officials said after the quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured at a magnitude of 6.9.

Officials said the quake wreaked havoc on the flimsy earth and wood houses near the quake's epicenter in the high-altitude area of Qinghai province on China's border with Tibet.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted government officials as saying around 8,000 people were hurt.

"The injured are everywhere in the street. A lot of people are bleeding from head wounds," Xinhua quoted a local official, identified as Zhuohuaxia, as saying.

He said more than 85 percent of houses collapsed in the town of Jiegu, located near the epicenter.

"There is a big crack in the Yushu Hotel. The four-story meeting hall of the prefecture government has collapsed," the official said, adding that at least part of a vocational school also collapsed and "a lot of students are buried underneath."

Another local official, Huang Limin, told Xinhua that soldiers were sent to the scene to comb through the debris for survivors.

Rescue teams and equipment were being rushed to the area, Xinhua said, noting that they could be hampered by the infrastructure damage.

The China Earthquake Administration put the magnitude of the quake at 7.1. It said there was extensive damage to local structures in the area, including cracks in a dam.

The USGS said the quake hit at 7:49am local (Jiegu) time and was centered 240 miles south-southeast of the city of Golmud, at a depth of 28.5 miles.

A series of aftershocks rattled the area shortly after the quake, with magnitudes of up to 5.8, the USGS reported.

Chinese media reports said that communications with the airport were lost and that roads leading to the terminal were damaged.

The civil affairs ministry planned to send 5,000 tents, 50,000 cotton coats and 50,000 quilts to the quake-hit region, Xinhua reported.

Yushu county has a population of about 80,000 people, according to government figures.

The remote high-altitude region is prone to earthquakes. Home to ethnic Mongolians and Tibetan farmers and herdsmen, the area is dotted with coal, tin, lead and copper mines.

A massive 8.0-magnitude quake in May 2008 in neighboring Sichuan province devastated a huge area of southwestern China, leaving at least 87,000 people dead or missing.

[Macrocane]

Another destructive one. Haiti, Chile, Turkey, Mexico and now China. Thanks for the info.

[Gustywind]

:eek: Another destructive one. Haiti, Chile, Turkey, Mexico and now China. Thanks for the info.

Horrific list is that the year of all the quakes? Let's hope NO:oops: Mother Nature has numerous surprises in store this year, it's incredible to see this impressive quake activity

[HURAKAN]

It's not the amount of quakes that has been the issue, it has been the areas affected, mainly Haiti.

[Aslkahuna]

Over the past 12 months there have been 18 shocks of MM7.0 or higher which is comparable to the average of 17 per year with a range of 6 to 32. So there's really no reason to think that thise year is any different in terms of activity. It's just that like hurricanes people are perversely moving into areas of high seismicity.

Steve

[HurricaneBill]

Over the past 12 months there have been 18 shocks of MM7.0 or higher which is comparable to the average of 17 per year with a range of 6 to 32. So there's really no reason to think that thise year is any different in terms of activity. It's just that like hurricanes people are perversely moving into areas of high seismicity.

Steve

True. I don't remember people freaking out about the fact that 2007 had 4 earthquakes of M8.0 or higher. Normally, only one occurs each year.

Other people on other boards claim this year has had more deadly quakes than other years. I'll say this: 2010 is NOTHING compared to 1976.

1976 had 6 earthquakes that killed at least 1,000 people.

February 4: Guatemala M7.5 (23,000 deaths)
May 6: northeastern Italy M6.5 (1,000 deaths)
June 25: Papua, Indonesia M7.1 (5,000 deaths)
July 27: Tangshan, China M7.5 (255,000 deaths)
August 16: Mindanao, Philippines M7.9 (8,000 deaths)
November 24: Turkey-Iran border M7.3 (5,000 deaths)

[Macrocane]

The death toll climbed up to 617, other 9000 have been injured and 15000 homes have been damaged or destroyed.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/04/15/china.quake/index.html

[Macrocane]

The death toll keeps rising and has reached 760 and other 11000 people have been injured.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/04/15/china.quake/index.html

[HURAKAN]

China quake toll 'passes 1,000'

The number of people known to have been killed by a massive quake in China's Qinghai province has risen to 1,144, officials say.

Another 417 are still missing in the remote mountainous region and 11,744 have been injured, a rescue spokesman told the Xinhua news agency.

Thousands have been left homeless, with many having to sleep outdoors in freezing temperatures.

Premier Wen Jiabao has promised "all-out effort" to rebuild the area.

Heavy lifting equipment began arriving on Friday in the remote Himalayan region by road from hundreds of kilometres away.

Food, tents and medical supplies are arriving too but rescue workers say there is a critical need for further supplies.

An estimated 15,000 houses have been destroyed in Yushu county, leaving thousands of people homeless people and casualties waiting for help.

Rescue joy

Soldiers, civilian rescue workers and Buddhist monks have been using pickaxes, shovels and their bare hands to pick through the rubble for survivors.

"For us monks, the most important thing is life," said Danchujiasi, a monk who travelled to the scene from neighbouring Sichuan province.

"We have come here to help rescue people. So many people have died, and we want to save the ones still living."

A teacher at a school in Yushu county said he and other staff members had been digging students out of the rubble with their bare hands.

"We didn't have any kind of tools. We couldn't lift the bigger rocks so we found some ropes and pulled them," Chen Guangming told the Associated Press news agency.

"This way we were able to pull out five. Three of them are still alive."

Tens of thousands of people were injured in the quake, and one doctor in Jiegu said he had lost track of how many people he had treated.

"They just keep coming one after the other," said Myima Jiaba, working at a makeshift hospital in the town's sports stadium.

"Right now, what we need is a lot of medicine. We need antiseptics and antibiotics. And overall, we need more tents and food, and sanitation."

Power down

The monks have also been helping to collect bodies and prepare them for funerals.

At a foothill under the main monastery of Jiegu township, monks chanted Tibetan Buddhist mantras in front of piles of dead, Reuters news agency said.

"I'd say we've collected a thousand or more bodies here," said Lopu, a monk.

"Many of the bodies you see here don't have families or their families haven't come looking for them, so it's our job to take good care of them."

Rescuers in Yushu, which lies at about 4,000m (13,000ft), are facing freezing weather and high altitude.

Ninety-seven percent of Yushu's population is ethnic Tibetan, and state media said that 500 interpreters were being sent to aid rescuers.

The quake, which struck on Wednesday morning at the shallow depth of 10km (six miles), knocked out phone and power lines, and triggered landslides, blocking vital roads.

Premier Wen Jiabao visited the affected area on Thursday and Friday, promising "all-out efforts" to rebuild the devastated region.

He said the people would "overcome the disaster and improve national unity in fighting the calamity".

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