7 posts tagged “earthquake”
Death Toll: over 40,000 people
Still Missing: 32,000 people
Some of the aftershocks over the past three days (they have been happening since the day of the earthquake):
Magnitude 5.0 Friday, May 16, 2008 at 04:16:51 PM (EDT)
Magnitude 5.7 Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 01:08:25 PM (EDT)
Magnitude 4.5 Sunday May 18, 2008 at 08:37:03 AM (EDT)
Magnitude 5.2 Monday, May 19, 2008 at 01:52:33 PM (EDT)
Magnitude 4.5 Monday, May 19, 2008 at 08:57:36 PM (EDT)
Above is a map which shows the locations of the aftershocks. It states there are 28 earthquakes (which includes aftershocks) on the map.
Thanks to Maya for asking about this.
Locations where early warning systems are in use (research stages):
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.
May 15, 2008 10:30 AM EST
Confirmed death toll: 19,509
Projected death toll: 50,000
Est. people still buried: ~ 30,000
Also affected: Taiwan
Amount of people estimated to be affected (loss of loved ones, homeless, damage to homes, workplaces, loss of power, injuries, lack of access to water and food): ~ 10 million
Other problems:
- Sichuan Province is home to many dams, and they are damaged by the quake. One dam, the Zipingpu Dam which was recently contructed among very high criticism including that of seismologists and geologists, about its being erected in a quake zone near a faultline, has suffered four inch cracks as well as landslides. This dam stands 500 feet in height and is about 35 miles from the epicentre of the quake. There are an estimated 400 dams with damage from the quake.
- Minyuang is home to several nuclear weapons facilities which have been damaged, reported by the the China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation on its website, but it does not report if there are any leaks or descriptions of the damage.
- Massive mud and landslides have blocked 2 rivers from continuing on their course in Qingchuan County. A huge lake has formed from the backed-up water. They have made an appeal for geologists to develop a rescue plan to assist in resolving this before further disaster strikes.
Celebrities donating: NBA star Yao Ming, proposed over a quarter of a million dollars of personal funds for aide.
Foreigners present at time of the quake: a group of American and British tourists on a WWF trip to observe giant pandas, all were safe and airlifted out today. The pandas at the breeding centre in Wolong were reported safe.
How to help: http://www.interaction.org/china
Magnitude: Now 7.9, according to the USGS
Epicentre: 31.021°N, 103.367°E
Death Toll: over 12,000
Still missing: over 18,600
Aftershocks: magnitude 4 to magnitude 6
The USGS now states that the quake resulted from "The earthquake reflects tectonic stresses resulting from the convergence of crustal material slowly moving from the high Tibetan Plateau, to the west, against strong crust underlying the Sichuan Basin and southeastern China."
In the Eocene Epoch, India slammed into Asia, which created the Tibetan Plateau over time. So this stress was built up from the west and the east. There is nowhere for China to go when this pressure builds up from both sides. It has no release but for earthquakes.
China’s southwestern region has some major faults, and off its coast the Pacific Plate is jamming itself beneath the continental crust of China as well as the Philippines Plate, which is also cramming itself beneath China. Between the Pacific Plate and the Philippines Plate lays the Mariana Trench, the deepest trench in the ocean. This all means, lots of tectonic activity, lots of stuff moving around and lots of stress building up. Which means, now and then to relieve the stress, earthquake.
Last night while people were sleeping in the US, morning time UK while people were rising for work, an earthquake struck in Sichuan Province, southwestern China. It buried 900 students beneath their school, among others. The death toll at this time for the province, is 8,500 people.
It registered 7.8 on the Richter Scale, according to the USGS. Its epicenter was ten kilometers deep (6.2 miles). Over 900 miles away in Beijing, people felt the shaking. In Shanghai, skyscrapers swayed like leaves in the wind. People in Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan felt it.
The deadliest recorded earthquake China has suffered killed nearly a quarter of a million people in 1976 (updated May 13; was orginally reported 1978, figure taken from an AP report).
On Monday, April 2, a tsunami struck the Solomon Islands (South Pacific). It was caused by an earthquake magnitude 8.1 (that means BIG) that was 10 miles deep into the earth's surface along the edge of the Pacific plate. At least 39 people are dead and over 100 missing.
A small island, Ranongga, was forced up 10 feet in sea level by the quake. The island, 20 miles in length and 8 miles in width, was formed on a coral reef, and coral still grew around it, which will now die from being exposed. Unfortunate fish and other lifeforms were stranded on the coral as well and also died. also exposed was a Japanese patrol boat from WWII. Where the ocean met the land on this island has now been moved back by up to 210 feet. Huge cracks also nearly split the island in half east to west, some cracks being up to 20 inches in width. At least 20 people died in the tsumani. Off the coast underwater, a gigantic fault has opened up, running parallel to the island's coastline on the north end.
Reports state that other coral reefs in the area were also damaged.
