Results tagged “earthquakes”

Despite assurances that cable operators totally have everything under control, it seems like the earthquakes really did affect the internet. Again. Shanghai Daily confirms that the 6.8 quake that rocked both Taiwan and Japan yesterday morning shook up the undersea cables once more. A back up channel that flowed through Pusan, South Korea also became victim to the earthquake, which is what caused most of the trouble for us here in Shanghai. The internet seems to be relatively okay today, so we guess whatever magic China Telecom used to tide us over until the cables are repaired works.

Photo from rdx913

Tony Cheng of Al-Jazeera continues on his journey in Sichuan province, talking and spending time with quake victims who are still struggling with putting back the broken pieces of their lives. For some, getting back to work has proven easy enough, but the spiritual and emotional anguish they continue to experience on a daily basis remains deep six months on.

It just won't stop. This news just in from AP:

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck southwestern Tibet on Thursday near the border with Nepal, close to an area hit late last month by a stronger quake that damaged hundreds of homes.

Continue reading "6.0 quake shakes Tibet, no casualties reported as yet"

"China has deployed more than 8,000 soldiers and military reservists to help search and rescue efforts in the south-west after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 killed 38 people."

The U.S. Geological Survey, via Reuters newswire, reported that a potentially destructive 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan, China, at 0949 GMT (that would be 5:49 Shanghai time) on Tuesday. The temblor was centered 30 miles north-northwest of Guangyuan, China, at a depth of 6.2 miles. USGS said a shallow quake of that magnitude is capable of significant property damage. AFP reports no casualties have been reported as yet.

As the Chinese government goes about in its last minute preparations for the long-awaited Olympics, elsewhere in Sichuan Province, local officials are pressurizing parents whose children have died in the May 12 earthquake to accept hush money. Sign a contract to get a cash payment plus pension or risk further trouble from the authorities? Very, very disturbing. [Source]

With the upcoming Olympics and the subsequent global attention, the government obviously wants the nation to look its best, which in China sometimes translates to quashing dissent. Two European-based human rights groups working together as the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders recently published a report declaring that the government has stepped up attempts to quiet dissidents, citing four people arrested for Olympic Games protests, including Hu Jia, who was sentenced to three and a half years in jail for criticizing the government’s human rights violations. More from the AFP article:

In a foreword to the report, writer Wei Jingsheng wrote: "In particular, last year the Chinese Government's repression has rapidly upgraded, in an effort to make sure there is no dissident voices from the people during the 2008 Olympics."

Continue reading "A pre-Olympic dissident clampdown?"

One week after last month's deadly Sichuan Earthquake, we brought to you the heartrending story of Chen Jian (陈坚), a young man who was pinned under the rubble for 73 hours, but unfortunately didn't make it after rescuers managed to extract him after working on him for six hours. Today, Zhang Qian (张倩), the reporter who was by Chen Jian's side in his last moments still breaks down whenever she thinks of him. In this interview with CCTV, she tearfully recounts of how she and her cameraman could not help but weep when they entered Beichuan that fateful day and saw how it was completely flattened by the quake, and of how she shuddered to think of how many people were under her each time she had to walk over the rubble. She also highlights the bravery of one Jiangsu rescuer by the name of Ouyang Honghong (欧阳宏宏) who risked his own life by taking off his helmet because that was the only way he could enter the rubble and help reposition Chen Jian's body.

The previously bustling city of Mianyang (绵阳), Sichuan's second largest city and an important military and nuclear base with a population of 5.7 million, is now nothing but a ghost town. As of June 5, Mianyang had a death toll of 21,963. Another 167,742 were injured, and 8,743 people missing. The remaining residents have been evacuated as the nearby Tangjiashan quake lake threatens to burst anytime soon. Meanwhile, prime minister Wen Jiabao (温家宝) continues to impress by flying down to the dangerously swollen lake for a third time, and showing he means business with his "zero casualty" target. Engineers are working round the clock to drain the lake.

USA Today reports that adoption agencies across the United States, particularly the China-only agencies are experiencing a great surge in enquiries after thousands of children were orphaned by the Sichuan earthquake:

"There's lots of interest," says Joshua Zhong, co-founder of Chinese Children Adoption International, one of the largest China-only agencies in the USA.

Continue reading "Adoption inquiries soar in the US after Sichuan earthquake but China says priority will be given to domestic adoption"

Looks like mammon does have its way of making people think before they talk. Less than a day after Sharon Stone suggested at the Cannes Film Festival that the Sichuan earthquake was karma for China's treatment of the Tibetans, she has been forced to eat back her words and apologise:

"My erroneous words and deeds angered and saddened the Chinese people, and I sincerely apologise for this. I'm willing to participate in any earthquake relief activity and to do my utmost to help Chinese people affected by the disaster."

"We don't agree with her hasty, unreflecting remarks and we deeply regret them. Dior was one of the first international brands to enter China and has won the affection and respect of the consuming public. We absolutely do not support any remark that hurts the Chinese people's feelings. We express our sorrow over the compatriots who lost their lives in the earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan, and we extend our sympathy and condolences to the people in the disaster area."

                                                             

A powerful, evocative and sombre collection of photos taken by Shanghai-based Canadian photographer Chad Ingraham who has been spending time in Chengdu and Dujiangyan over the last few days.

The next time you are at Shanghai Centre Element Fresh, be sure to check out what's on the walls as you wait for your order to arrive. Shanghai-based Canadian artist Jeffery Robert Bleazard has donated six of his artworks to the Sichuan Earthquake Charity Art Auction organized by Element Fresh and the paintings will be on display at Shanghai Centre Element Fresh until June 8.

"The Beijing Olympic flame will spend just one day in Tibet next month rather that the three days originally scheduled, an official with the torch relay department of the Beijing Organising Committee said on Monday."

Selena Hsu of Current TV visits the Jiuzhou Stadium in Mianyang and discovers that while some parents have lost their children and everything else in life, they are more than willing to adopt someone else's child orphaned by the earthquake. [h/t to Danwei]

Yes, you heard that right. Just when we thought it was all over, another one has struck. This was the strongest aftershock since the deadly quake, but for such a strong aftershock (6.4 on the Richter scale) which managed to topple 70,000 houses and leave anothor 200,000 in danger of collapse, the death toll was pretty low at two and another several hundred more injured. Our friend, Jane Voodikon, editor of Chengdoo magazine informs us this has come at a time when people were finally "kind of not panicking" and starting to get back to their normal lives. But one aftershock, and they have all been sent running out of buildings once again. Running out of buildings on such a frequent basis must be a traumatising experience.

We've all seen over the last week how the cruel earthquake has left parents without children and children without parents. As the focus now turns to healing and restoration for survivors and giving them tools with which to pick up the broken pieces of their lives, the government has now begun to disseminate information on active steps that concerned individuals considering adoption of children and babies orphaned by the disaster can take. Here is some English-language information we found on China Daily via People's Daily (the availability of which indicates they are open to foreigners adopting the earthquake orphans):

The turnout last night was phenomenal! The lines flowed out the door and onto the streets, the beer taps ran dry, no could hear the raffle winners’ names, and the BBQ queue was unbelievable… but, beautifully, no one seemed to care.

Via Speak4China which is rapidly becoming one of our favourite blogs: Shortly after Chinese netizens launched a "human flesh search engine" and elicited a tearful response from a group of three Sichuan students for their earthquake interview prank, the online lynch mobs have quickly found a new target in a Liaoning girl by the name of Gao Qianhui (高千惠). But this time we think that she kinda deserved it. First let's check out her crime, which is this 5 minute video you see on the right. Gao was basically annoyed with the 3 day period of national mourning during which she could not watch her favourite television programme nor play any games online and decided to record the video, in which she said some pretty nasty things about the victims of the Sichuan quake. Here are several rough translations of a few snippets:

"I turn on the TV and what do I see? Dead bodies, injured people, corpses, rotten bodies, all the crazy acts you guys are putting up. It's not that I want to watch these things. I have no choice. Look, now the entire internet is black-and-white and without colour. Do you think we're all colourblind like you? Have your eyes been hit by so much rubble you can't see any colour now?

Continue reading "Online lynch mobs find second post-quake target; Liaoning girl detained by the police"

Right: A woman over 60 years old, Wang Youqiong, was saved from the rubble 196 hours after the quake. She is now severely dehydrated and under intensive care at the Chengdu Huaxi Hospital. It is currently still unclear what damage has been done to her vital organs.

Scuffles between aid volunteers and survivors of earthquake broke out in Mianyang, as victims struggled to find water and food supplies. [May 19]

This set of powerful pictures were shot during a wedding photo shoot in Pengzhou, Sichuan when the earthquake struck. All survived the disaster but it looked like one old and very beautiful looking building was badly damaged by the tremors. Click here to view larger pictures if you find the photo effects too annoying. [h/t to China Digital Times]

Shanghaiist has been nonstop busy for the past several days fielding emails and returning calls from companies interested in donating to the raffle at ‘The Great Shanghaiist Benefit for Earthquake Victims at Sasha's’. It’s a great reason to feel overworked.

Yet more notes from the field forwarded to us by our friends from Chengdoo:

Via a new blog called Speak4China which comes with the hearty recommendation of the China Law Blog: On the day the Wenchuan earthquake struck, these students from a Sichuan high school were evacuated from their building and to while away their time, they took this video of themselves pretending to do an earthquake interview on live television. One girl said she didn't care about her parents and only for the pop duo Twins, another said she hoped there was an earthquake everyday and a third said she hoped the school building would collapse soon so they didn't have to go to school ever again. This soon unleashed yet another powerful "human flesh search engine" (not unsimilar to the one experienced by Duke university student Grace Wang) in which enraged netizens tracked down the students and harrassed them in every way possible (no details on how they were harrassed though).

With over 30,000 dead, another tens of thousands missing, and 200,000 injured, coupled with a broken down mobile/land line and transportation system, many people are on a frantic search for each other, and Google mobilised 100 of its employees to help create a custom search engine entirely dedicated to helping people find their friends and loved ones. Other nifty tools found on this feature-rich page include Google Maps integrated with the latest earthquake and relief information, online donation facilities, and discussion forums where people can try to get in touch with each other.

Scenes captured across Chengdu during the three minutes of silence, when all of China ground to a halt yesterday. For many Chengdu-ites, this earthquake has hit very, very close to home:

China-based Twitterers too observed a 3 minute silence on the 3 minute silence that took place from 14:28 to 14:31 just now to mark the first of three days of national mourning, and this is what they said immediately afterwards.

Several tales of motherly love have emerged and are being repeated throughout several Chinese stations and media:

• One mother was found buried dead while still suckling her three month old.
• One picture of a female police officer Jiang Xiaojuan has been making its rounds on the internet. A new mother herself, Jiang has been breastfeeding eight babies orphaned by the quake.
• A third baby was found by rescue workers alive in the arms of his mother who unfortunately didn't make it. Rescue workers also found a mobile phone with the text message, "Honey, if you make it through this, please remember that I love you." The veracity of this particular story has already been questioned by netizens. ESWN in a post "How about less faked touching news?":

  Some netizens pointed out that this story was the one reported in The First and Beijing Evening News. Both of those newspapers sourced their stories to Tianfu Morning News and they were using mostly the same words. Both newspapers said that the child was about 10 month old. The newspapers said that the child was found underneath the body of the mother, but there was no mention of any mobile phone with a SMS on the screen. The SMS was the most moving part of the story, but the newspapers did not mention it. So the Tianya poster was either making things up, or he was an eyewitness, or he learned it from hearsay, or these are two completely stories. It is most likely that this story was made up, because there was no name, time or place.

  Continue reading "Heroic tales of motherly love emerge"