Results tagged “naturaldisasters”

An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale hit Yunnan Province's Guantun township, Yao'an County (姚安) in the mountainous Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture at 7:19 p.m. Thursday. The epicenter was about 200 kilometers from the provincial capital Kunming. Various news agencies are reporting more than 300 injuries and 10,000 collapsed homes. No deaths have been reported yet. News from this remote area is coming in slowly — CNN is just now calling the 12-hour-old earthquake "Breaking News" — so it is difficult to gauge the severity of the earthquake at this moment. Stay tuned.

As Shanghai prepares for the 2010 World Expo at a frighteningly fast pace, one aspect of urban development is being overlooked: emergency shelters. Currently, should any sort of natural disaster befall the city, Shanghai's almost 19 million citizens would have only one (still unfinished) public emergency shelter to turn to.

Several scientists in China and the U.S. are claiming that the Sichuan Earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed at least 70,000 people, could have been caused by a 511ft-high dam just 550 yards from the fault line.

UPDATE, 18:09 The first Japanese relief workers are expected to leave tonight. A group of 60 earthquake specialists together with sniffer dogs will head to Sichuan over the next few days. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has appealed for earth-moving equipment to aid rescue efforts in the region. Many relief workers are currently sifting through the rubble with their hands according to ABC News. The latest official death toll stands at 19,500 but is expected to rise sharply over the coming days.

Though reports are varied, it now appears that the current death from the Wenchuan earthquakes is somewhere between 17,000 and 20,000 (latter figure from the Time China Blog, although most of the media is still reporting the official count at a more conservative 15,000. It's still to0 early to say just how high that figure will climb once everything is said and done, but an earlier Time's estimate put that number at around 100,000 (their man Austin Ramzy is there right now). While we hope that this isn't the case, we can see why they would say that, because other sources put the amount of buried or missing at between 27,000 and a staggering 60,000, and time is running out to get these people out.

Treehugger: China earthquake threatens nearby dams, environment

Film star Jackie Chan has donated RMB10million to help those in need following the earthquake in Sichuan province. Other celebrities have also dipped into their wallets. From CriEnglish:

"Jackie Chan also sent his consolation to the quake victims and encouraged them to hold on as "people all over the country are with you," the star said.

Continue reading "Celebrity Power: Jackie Chan and Li Yuchun"

As reported earlier, the epicenter of the Sichuan earthquake was not only near the city of Wenchuan, but it was also very close to the Wolong Panda Reserve. Xinhua informed us that some pandas at other facilities were safe, but the status of the Wolong pandas was still known.

* Over 10,000 feared dead in biggest earthquake in China for 30 years

By Sue Anne Tay

By Kenneth Tan, Dan Washburn, Pete Chorba, and Derek Sandhaus