Strong China earthquake felt as far as Thailand

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

BEIJING (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck China's Sichuan province on Monday, less than 100 km (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Chengdu, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website.

The quake was felt across much of China and as far west as Bangkok, Thailand's capital, some 3,300 km (2050 miles) away, where office buildings swayed for several minutes.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or damage from the tremor.

"We felt continuous shaking for about two or three minutes. All the people in our office are rushing downstairs. We're still feeling slight tremblings," said an office worker in Chengdu.

In Beijing's financial district, many workers poured from their buildings but there were no visible signs of damage. The subway system was unaffected.

"People were shouting 'get out, get out', so we all ran out of our dorm," said a student surnamed Zhang at a university in nearby Chongqing.

USGS said on its website (link) that the quake struck at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT) at a depth of 29 kms (18 miles). The agency originally put the strength of the quake at 7.8

Japan's meteorological agency said no warnings for a tsunami has been issued.

Sources said there was no immediate impact to the Three Gorges Dam project, the weight of whose massive reservoir, hundreds of kms from Chengdu, experts have said could increase the risk of tremors.

A spokesman for the China Earthquake Administration said it was still checking the epicenter and scale of the tremor.

(Reporting by Jason Subler and Darren Schuettler; Writing by David Fox; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSPEK23117420080512

[GaryC 7]

State media: 107 killed in central China quake

BEIJING - State media report a strong earthquake that buried 900 students in central China has killed at least 107 people.

Xinhua News Agency said another 34 people were confirmed hurt in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the quake struck 60 miles northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu at 2:28 p.m.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BEIJING (AP) — State media report that a powerful earthquake has buried nearly 900 students in China's Sichuan province.

The Xinhua News Agency did not immediately give any other details or say if any of the students were thought to be alive.

It has also reported that four students were killed and more than 100 students injured when the 7.8-magnitude quake knocked down two schools in neighboring Chongqing municipality. A fifth person was killed by a collapsing water tower in Monday's quake.

[Lisax 0]

I just saw on the news on NBC, how scary!

[Niels Bohr 72]

The cyclone, now this. I think it's the 1000 years curse from China.

[Nagishkaw 510]

It is sad to read of all the recent disasters happening as of late.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

It is sad to read of all the recent disasters happening as of late.

I agree.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Stay safe.

[Niels Bohr 72]

The Burmese government is so selfish. They wouldn't let alot of aid through. There's a ship today that was carrying food relief to over 1000 people which suffered a major castrophe.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Now they are saying more than 8,000 are dead. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080512/ap_on_...U.5sbNy0eOs0NUE

[mawilson 2,133]

China quake kills over 8,500 in Sichuan

More than 8,500 people were killed in one county of China’s Sichuan province alone

after a huge earthquake hit the region, Xinhua news agency said, citing the local

government.

As many as 10,000 in Sichuan’s Beichuan county were feared injured by the tremor,

which the US Geological Survey said measured 7.8 on the Richter scale.

Sichuan province, ChinaMany children were buried when a middle school building

with around 900 pupils in it collapsed near Dujiangyan city in Sichuan’s rural county

of Wenchuan. ”Some pupils escaped, but the rest were buried in the rubble,” the

official Xinhua news agency reported.

Local officials said road and telephone communications with Wenchuan and other local

counties had been cut, with building collapses, landslides and casualties reported in

nearby areas.

There were no indications of industrial disruption from the tremor, which hit at 2:28pm

local time. Officials said no damage had been found to the huge Three Gorges Dam

on the Yangtse River east of Sichuan.

The government announced that Hu Jintao, Chinese president, had issued an "important

directive" ordering "urgent rescue efforts" for the affected areas. "Premier Wen Jiabao

is hurrying to the disaster area to direct rescue work," the official Xinhua news agency said.

China has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past. In 1976, a tremor that levelled

China's northern Tangshan city killed at least 270,500 people. In 1556 northern

Shaanxi Province suffered the most deadly earthquake in history, a disaster that claimed

an estimated 830,000 lives.

On Monday, buildings shook in cities across China, with major office buildings evacuated

in Beijing and Shanghai. The quake was felt as far southwest as the Thai capital of Bangkok,

more than 3,000km away, Reuters news agency reported.

Wenchuan, the tremor's epicentre, is a mainly agricultural county with a population of

around 100,000 divided between China's majority Han ethnic group and the Qiang and

Tibetan minorities.

Tibetan districts in the surrounding area have been closed to foreign journalists since

violent protests took place in mid-March.

Wenchuan is most famous as the home of the Wolong Nature Reserve, one of the world's

most important panda breeding and research centres.

The earthquake caused widespread disruption to communications in the mountainous region.

The provincial arm of China Mobile, the country's dominant wireless operator, said that

2,300 of its mobile phone base stations had been knocked out of service.

However, only minor damage was initially reported in the provincial capital of Chengdu,

less than 100km from the earthquake epicentre.

link

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

Yeah. It is way up. Here is a woman trapped trying to escape:

CHONGQING, China - A massive earthquake struck central China on Monday, killing more than 8,500 people and trapping nearly 900 students under the rubble of their school, state media reported.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

It's times like these that makes me want to be a relief worker and go help dig these people out.

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

I know. I wish I could just go there for a week and say "tell me how I can help". Unfortunately it does not work that way. Sigh.

[Nagishkaw 510]

It's times like these that makes me want to be a relief worker and go help dig these people out.

I 100% agree with you, Olivia. Since we cannot go there to physically help out, we can offer up mega prayers instead.

[Sister Fracas 5]