7.8 Earthquake in China (Over 100 dead)

[Meso]

An earthquake capable of causing major damage shook central China on Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.


It registered a magnitude of 7.8, the survey said.

Two more earthquakes -- measuring 6.0 and 5.4 magnitudes -- happened nearby over the next hour, the USGS reported.

China's state-run CCTV reported no serious damage in Chengdu, a city of more than 10 million that is about 60 miles from the epicenter, in the eastern part of China's Sichuan province.

"This is a very dangerous earthquake," said Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake has the potential to cause major damage because of its strength and proximity to major population centers, he said. In addition, the earthquake was relatively shallow, Presgrave said, and those kinds of quakes tend to do more damage near the epicenter than deeper ones.

The ground shook as far away as Beijing, which is 950 miles (1,528km) from the epicenter. They felt "a very quiet rolling sensation" that lasted for about a minute, according to CNN correspondent John Vause.
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"Our building began to sway," he said.

Thousands of people were evacuated from Beijing high rises immediately after the earthquake.

The first earthquake happened at 2:28 p.m. local time (2:28 a.m. ET), the USGS said.

The earthquake was also felt in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, and as far away as Hanoi, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand, according to the Hong Kong-based Mandarin-language channel Phoenix TV.


http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiap ... index.html

UPDATE : At least four students reported killed and 100 injured when primary school buildings collapsed in China earthquake.

UPDATE : At least 107 people died in a major earthquake that rocked central China on Monday -- but the total does not include any of the nearly 900 students feared buried in a collapsed high school.

[Chacor]

viewtopic.php?f=67&t=100952&p=1707426#p1707426

There's a forum for earthquakes now.

[Meso]

Why look at that,thanks.I need to lurk moooar

[Dionne]

Is it just me or does it seem like the planet is experiencing an unusual number of epic disasters in the last few years? Tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes. Could it just be population density?

[HURAKAN]

Normal natural phenomena occurring in places that are overpopulated. This counts for the high number of mortality.