China:Quake Damage Rising





240px-2008_sichuan_province_earthquake.jpg

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck China at 2:28 p.m. local time. The quake was centered at Wen-chuan county, Sichuan province, some 50 miles west-northwest to Chengdu, where 12 million people live. It was not only intense but massive as well, since across the country has felt its impact. Up till now 107 deaths have been reported, along with cases of injured and collapsed buildings.

The road to Wen-chuan has been paralyzed.

The casualty is feared to be still rising.

Updated: In the evening, 3000 to 5000 deaths were estimated in Beichuan county, contiguous to the epicenter.

After about an hour of the tremor, related news was released on scores of websites, including Xinhua Net, the official news agency.

Premier Wenjiabao has reached the disaster area to lead the rescue, saying that the situation is “particularly severe”. 5000 soldiers have been sent for rescue.

The range of the quake’s impact is huge. It could by no means be covered up as shortly after the seism occurred, from southern cities as far as Hong Kong and Haikou, to northern metropolises such as Beijing, or populated regions like Chongqing and Shanghai, tremor, shaking, and dizziness caused by wobbling were felt in varied degree.

Swarms of people went online to share their experiences during the quakes that lasted for over 10 seconds. Here’s a roundup:

From Chinese video-sharing website Tudou, user danta1990's footage taken in the Sichuan capital Chengdu:

Danwei has already compiled a number of updates from various sources, as has Shanghaiist, with information on user-shot video from Sichuan Chinese video portal websites were quick to get up on their front pages.

This clip on 56.com comes from user Little Fish in Wenchuan, Sichuan:

And this from video sharing website Youku.com comes from user xiaoyu82528, showing the effect of the earthquake as felt as far away as Beijing:

Twitter seems to be a top source of breaking details for the moment; Many are writing of difficulties connecting to those at the center of the quake zone over telephone, but the internet seems to still be functioning. Beijing-based tech guru Kaiser Kuo writes that the government Seismological Bureau website is currently inaccessible, presumably from high levels of traffic.

Users inwalkedbud and Lyrrael have been posting updates in English, reporting what they can. River Crab Goes Ashore has been collecting live updates on Chinese microblogging service provider Fanfou.

Inwalkedbud writes from Chengdu, quite near the center of the earthquake: “Doesn't seem to be much damage to buildings, but people are shaken up. Electricity/water/gas seems to be working still.”

Other areas have not been as fortunate; Chinese Twitter user Raine, based in Hubei, writes of possible destruction there:

同事刚电话回家，湖北的荆州、沙市的房子倒了一片，有灾情。

One colleague just phoned home to Jingzhou in Hubei, houses in Shashi have collapsed, it's a disaster there.

Also via Danwei is a note to keep following Summize.com, one Twitter search engine which supports Chinese characters, for steady updates; updates found via Summize and other places will be added here as they are found. Photos can be seen on Flickr via searches for ‘earthquake' in English and Chinese and on Yupoo.com.

Anyone with more information regarding other areas around China that have been affected is invited to gives us a heads-up in the comments.

Microblog updates by region:
Sichuan
21:52 http://jiwai.de/IQ%E5%B0%8F%E5%AD%90/statuses/8802456

“English”语言的维基百科“List of earthquakes”词条中已经增加了此次四川大地震的内容,此外该语言已经新增了“2008 Sichuan Province earthquake”的词条。中文维基百科尚无相关内容更新。

The English-language ‘list of earthquakes' entry already has information on this Sichuan earthquake, and on top of that there's even a “2008 Sichuan Province earthquake” entry. Chinese Wikipedia still has no related information.

http://fanfou.com/statuses/g2QgIe8OWzM

四川大学要求同学离开宿舍 通知4点余震开始

Sichuan University has ordered all students out of dorms, saying aftershocks to being at 4pm

https://twitter.com/shizhao/statuses/809213970

据说四川地区CDMA，小灵通可以打通

Sounds like CDMA and local network phones are working in the Sichuan region

https://twitter.com/niubi/statuses/809205236

chengdu airport closed. flights heading there beijing redirectede to chongqing

https://twitter.com/guiyinzhang/statuses/809162622
5:30 pm: https://twitter.com/Aether/statuses/809193571

成都互联网通讯有能连上的了。

The internet is connected in Chengdu

http://fanfou.com/statuses/l6XlCAxBJCI

绵阳花盆啥的都碎了，饮水机震倒说塌了好多房子，人都到河堤上去了

Flowerpots and everything are broken in Mianyang, water coolers shaking, many houses have collapsed, everybody has gone to the banks of the river.

http://fanfou.com/statuses/aOdJ1I6y1YU

四川阿坝州理县县城1人死亡8人重伤 汶川县发生7.8级地震后，截止12日17时10分，阿坝州政府应急办了解到的情况是：汶川、理县、茂县交通、通讯全面中断，黑水、小金、金川、马尔康、松潘、九寨沟等县均有房屋倒塌、道路中断、山体滑坡、人员伤亡(其中茂县林业电台报告伤亡人员较多，

One dead and eight seriously hurt in Lixian County, Abazhou, Sichuan. At 5:10pm government issued urgent notice, traffic and communications completely cut off in Wenchuan, Lixian and Maoxian; houses have collapsed and roads cut off and persons injured by mountain run-off in Heishui, Xiaojin, Ma'erkang, Songfan and Jiuzaigou,

Beijing
https://twitter.com/flypig/statuses/809127403

中国南北网络断了吗？怎么啥都上不去了？

Has the China internet backbone been cut? Why can't I get online?

https://twitter.com/imagethief/statuses/809121832
https://twitter.com/kaiserkuo/statuses/809123623
https://twitter.com/kaiserkuo/statuses/809124220
https://twitter.com/Tangos/statuses/809124276
https://twitter.com/niubi/statuses/809132301
https://twitter.com/fuzheado/statuses/809131321
photo https://twitter.com/flypig/statuses/809135452

Shanghai
https://twitter.com/nocas/statuses/809139803
https://twitter.com/casperodj/statuses/809196553
https://twitter.com/leoshcn/statuses/809195725

Shaanxi
https://twitter.com/yesky12/statuses/809191510
https://twitter.com/QienKuen/statuses/809199223

只能和西安那边发短信，电话打不进去。。

I can only text with people in Xi'an, can't get through by phone…

Henan
21:39 http://jiwai.de/jiangyh/statuses/8802154

15æ—¶48分，河南省地震局通过手机短信、电视、广播等形式，向群众发布震情提示：“地震台网测定今天14：28四川汶川发生7.8级地震，震感波及我省，不会影响正常生活，请不要恐慌，本局正关…

At 3:48 pm the Henan Seismological Bureau sent out a warning to the public through mobile phone text message, television and radio: “The Seismological Station Web has determined that at 2:28 today a 7.8 scale earthquake took place in Wenchuan, Sichuan; the earthquake shocks have affected our province, but will not affect day-to-day life, please do not panic, the Bureau is looking into this…”

http://fanfou.com/statuses/O8h2ttRuQJ8

郑州国家电网公司的大楼都疏散到空地了

The State Power Grid Tower in Zhengzhou has been evacuated

Jiangxi
http://fanfou.com/statuses/7bjUhAwYzH8

Anhui
https://twitter.com/seekDench/statuses/809183753

Zhejiang
https://twitter.com/Fenng/statuses/809127914

杭州网络正常。公司大部分同事都跑到外面去了。

The internet is functioning normally in Hangzhou. Most people in the office here have gone outside.

http://fanfou.com/statuses/k0jIs0Mkmz8

浙江嘉兴、上海间发生5.7级地震 暂无人员伤亡

5.7 earthquake between Jiaxing in Zhejiang province and Shanghai. Nobody injured at present.

http://fanfou.com/statuses/nOwacdhRpdA
宁波世贸中心大楼倾斜3度！！！！！！！！！！！！
The World Trade Center in Ningbo has tilted 3 degrees!!!!!!!!

Chongqing
https://twitter.com/Tangos/statuses/809188431
https://twitter.com/shizhao/statuses/809211439

重庆2小学倒塌，4学生死亡

Two primary schools in Chongqing have collapsed, four students dead

Changsha
http://twitter.com/dadi007/statuses/809209238

Guangxi
http://fanfou.com/statuses/8lgMEGMOzUE

Hubei
Wuchang: http://twitter.com/lenvow/statuses/809197185

湖北多地有地震震感 武昌出现手机信号盲区

Many places in Hubei felt the earthquake; Wuchang is experiencing cellphone blind zones.

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