Geology Newz: Sichuan Earthquake Update 16 May 2008
Death toll: 21,500 confirmed.
Recent activity: Powerful aftershocks at 11:34 PM local time (11:34 Am EST) magnitude 5.1; 1:25 PM EST, magnitude 5.5, both of which triggered more landslides and building collapses.
Update on the reach of orginial earthquake at 7.9 on May 12: It was felt in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Thailand.
I can not find news on the dam at Zippingpu yet. The Chinese gov't claims it "plugged the cracks", but I do not feel comfortable about a claim such as that.
A set of imagery from 2006 and the present in Sichuan Province. The strikingly brown areas in the current image are places devastated by the earthquake (showing bare earth from landslides, etc). This set of images is from the Space and Major Disasters organisation that was given to the Chinese government to assist with the disaster. To form this org, countries teamed up, starting in 2000, where they share their satellite imagery for disasters. Members include China National Space Admin, Indian Space Research Org, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NOAA, NASA, and Argentine Space Agency.
Comments
creepy
Good question.
Well, an earthquake travels in waves. P Waves come first, S Waves come second. Some countries have come up with a gadget that is supposed to detect the P waves and send out an alarm. Here is an explanation from a japanese website: http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/how.pdf
Here is an article on the status of early warning systems: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20772/?a=f
In 2006, a study published in the Chinese Journal of Catastrophology (灾害学) reported that the Sichuan-Yunnan region may experience a M≥6.7 earthquake in 2008.
On April 26, nearly 80,000 m3 of water that once filled the Guanyin pond of Baiguo township of Enshi City, Hubei province sank underground with a rumbling sound. Changes in the underground water flow usually indicate changed seismic conditions.
On April 26-27, scientists at China's Geophysics Association made a prediction report of a possible M=6 to 7 earthquake in the vicinity of the converging point of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces just south of Lanzhou. The report was sent to China's Earthquake Bureau on April 30. Geng Qingguo later added that the Ngawa area (阿坝地区) will likely experience an M≥7 earthquake on May 8±10 days. Geng also complained that other scientists tread down his findings and considered them as pseudoscience.
There is more info but that gives enough to know that this was seen to be coming. [can't sleep and so i tend to listen to radio and vox when that happens]