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This article documents a recent earthquake. Information regarding it may change rapidly as it progresses. Though this article is updated frequently, it may not reflect the most current and/or official information about this earthquake. |
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| Date | May 12, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 8.0 Ms[1] / 7.9 Mw[2] |
| Depth: | 19 kilometres (12 mi) |
| Epicenter location: | (Wenchuan County in Sichuan province) |
| Countries/ regions affected |
 China |
| Tsunami: | None |
| Aftershocks: | so far 83 stronger aftershocks (see list) over 7,000 weaker aftershocks[3] |
| Casualties: | 51,151 (dead) 288,431(injured) 29,328(missing) (as of May 22, 2008 10:00 CST)[4] |
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake (Chinese: 四川大地震), which measured at 8.0 Ms[5] and 8.3 Mw[6]according to the China Seismological Bureau, and 7.9 Mw according to USGS, occurred at 14:28:01.42 CST (06:28:01.42 UTC) on 12 May 2008 in Sichuan province of China. It was also known as the Wenchuan earthquake (Chinese: 汶川大地震), after the earthquake's epicenter in Wenchuan County in Sichuan province. The epicenter was 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, with a depth of 19 kilometres (12 mi).[2] The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing (1,500 km away) and Shanghai (1,700 km away), where office buildings swayed with the tremor.[7] The earthquake was also felt in nearby countries.
Official figures (as of May 22, 10:00 CST) state that 51,151 are confirmed dead, including 50,651 in Sichuan province, and 288,431 injured.[4] Tens of thousands are missing, approximately 14,000 of them buried, and eight provinces were affected.[8] The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless.[9] It was the deadliest and strongest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed over 240,000 people.
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The earthquake had a magnitude of 8.0 Ms according to the State Seismological Bureau of China and 7.9 Mw according to the United States Geological Survey.[1][2] The epicenter was in Wenchuan County, Ngawa Prefecture, 80 km west/northwest of Chengdu, with its main tremor occurring at 14:28:01.42 CST (06:28:01.42 UTC), on Monday 12 May 2008.
Fifty-two major aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.4 to 6.0, were recorded within 72 hours of the main tremor.[10] Preliminary rupture models of the earthquake indicated displacement of up to 9 meters along a fault approximately 240 km long by 20 km deep.[11] The earthquake generated deformations of the surface greater than 3 meters[12] and increased the stress (and probability of occurrence of future events) at the northeastern and southwestern ends of the fault.[12] On May 20, USGS seismologist Tom Parsons warned that there is "high risk" of a major M>7 aftershock over the next weeks or months. [13]
Japanese seismologist Yuji Yagi said that the earthquake occurred in two stages: "155-mile Longmenshan Fault tore in two sections, the first one ripping about seven yards, followed by a second one that sheared four yards."[14] Yagi's data also showed that the earthquake lasted about two minutes and released the energy that was 30 times larger than that of Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995 in Japan, which killed over 6,000 people. He pointed out that it was a shallowness of the epicenter and the density of population that greatly increased the severity of the earthquake. Teruyuki Kato, a seismologist in the University of Tokyo, said that the seismic waves of the quake traveled at a long distance without losing their power because of the firmness of the terrain in central China. According to reports from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, the earthquake tremors lasted for "about two or three minutes".[15]
Places ordered by distance from epicenter (or time of propagation) :
China (mainland): All regions except Xinjiang, Jilin and Heilongjiang were affected by the quake.[16]
Hong Kong: Tremors were felt approximately three minutes after the quake, continuing for about half a minute. This was also the farthest distance from the epicentre felt in Hong Kong's record.[17][18][19][20]
Macau: Tremors were felt approximately three minutes after the quake.[21]
Vietnam: Tremors were felt approximately five minutes after the earthquake in Northern parts of Vietnam.[22][23]
Thailand: In parts of Thailand tremors were felt six minutes after the quake. Office buildings in Bangkok swayed for next several minutes.[24]
Taiwan: It took about eight minutes for the quake to reach Taiwan, then the tremors continued for one to two minutes; no damage or injuries were reported.[25]
Mongolia: Tremors were felt approximately eight minutes after the earthquake in parts of Mongolia.[19]
Bangladesh: Tremors were felt eight and a half minutes after the quake in all parts of Bangladesh.[19]
Nepal: Tremors were felt approximately eight and a half minutes after the quake.[19]
India: Tremors were felt approximately nine minutes after the earthquake in parts of India.[19]
Pakistan: In parts of Northern Pakistan tremors were felt ten minutes after the quake.[19]
Russia: Tremors were felt in Tuva, no casualties reported.[19]The extent of the earthquake and after shock-effected areas lies north-east, along the Longmen Shan fault.
According to the United States Geological Survey:[26]
The earthquake occurred as the result of motion on a northeast striking reverse fault or thrust fault on the northwestern margin of the Sichuan Basin. The earthquake’s epicenter and focal-mechanism are consistent with it having occurred as the result of movement on the Longmenshan fault or a tectonically related fault. 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.
On a continental scale, the seismicity of central and eastern Asia is a result of northward convergence of the Indian Plate against the Eurasian Plate with a velocity of about 50 mm/y. The convergence of the two plates is broadly accommodated by the uplift of the Asian highlands and by the motion of crustal material to the east away from the uplifted Tibetan Plateau. The northwestern margin of the Sichuan Basin has previously experienced destructive earthquakes. The magnitude 7.5 earthquake of August 25, 1933 killed more than 9,300 people.
According to the British Geological Survey:[27]
The earthquake occurred 92 km northwest of the city of Chengdu in eastern Sichuan province and over 1500 km from Beijing, where it was also strongly felt. Earthquakes of this size have the potential to cause extensive damage and loss of life. The epicentre was in the mountains of the Eastern Margin of Qing-Tibet Plateau at the northwest margin of the Sichuan Basin. The earthquake occurred as a result of motion on a northeast striking thrust fault that runs along the margin of the basin. The seismicity of central and eastern Asia is caused by the northward movement of the India plate at a rate of 5cm/year and its collision with Eurasia, resulting in the uplift of the Himalaya and Tibetan plateau and associated earthquake activity. This deformation also results in the extrusion of crustal material from the high Tibetan Plateau in the west towards the Sichuan Basin and southeastern China. China frequently suffers large and deadly earthquakes. In August 1933 a magnitude 7.5 earthquake about 90 km northeast of today's earthquake destroyed the town of Diexi and surrounding villages, and caused many landslides, some of which dammed the rivers.
Office buildings in Shanghai's financial district, including the Jin Mao Tower and the Hong Kong New World Tower, were evacuated.[28] Phone calls to emergency response numbers in Chengdu were repeatedly busy.[29] A receptionist at the Tibet Hotel in Chengdu said things were "calm" after the hotel had evacuated its guests.[30] Meanwhile, workers at a Ford plant in Sichuan were evacuated for about 10 minutes.[31] The Chengdu airport was shut down, and the control tower and regional radar control evacuated. One SilkAir flight was diverted and landed in nearby Kunming as a result.[32] Cathay Pacific delayed both legs of its quadruple daily Hong Kong to London route due to this disruption in air traffic services. Chengdu airport has since reopened on Monday at 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) to limited flights as the airport is used as a staging area for relief operations.[33]
Reporters in Chengdu said they saw cracks on walls of some residential buildings in the downtown areas, but no building collapsed.[34] Many Beijing office towers were evacuated, including the building housing the media offices for the organizers of the 2008 Summer Olympics. None of the Olympic venues were damaged.[22] Meanwhile, a cargo train carrying 13 petrol tanks derailed in Huixian County, Gansu Province, and caught on fire, after the rail was distorted.[35]
All of the highways into Wenchuan, and others throughout Sichuan province, were damaged, resulting in delayed arrival of the rescue troops.[36][37] In Beichuan county, 80% of the buildings collapsed according to Xinhua News.[38] In the city of Shifang, the collapse of two chemical plants led to leakage of some 80 tons of liquid ammonia, with hundreds of people reported buried.[39] In the city of Dujiangyan, south-east of the epicentre, a whole school collapsed with 900 students buried and 50 dead. The Juyuan middle school, where many teenagers were buried, is being excavated by civilians and cranes.[40] Dujiangyan is home of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which is an ancient water diversion project which is still in use and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The project's famous Fish Mouth was cracked but not severely damaged otherwise.[41]
Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange suspended trading of companies based in southwestern China. Copper rose over speculations that production in southwestern China may be affected,[43] and oil prices dropped over speculations that demand from China will fall.[44]
China Mobile had more than 2,300 base stations suspended due to power disruption or severe telecommunication traffic congestion. Half of the wireless communications were lost in the Sichuan province. China Unicom's service in Wenchuan and four nearby counties were cut off, with more than 700 towers suspended.[45][46][47]
Initially, officials were unable to contact the Wolong National Nature Reserve, home to around 280 giant pandas.[48] However, China’s Foreign Ministry later said that a group of 31 British tourists visiting the Wolong panda reserve in the quake-hit area have returned safe and uninjured to the provincial capital. Nonetheless, the well-being of an even greater number of pandas in the neighbouring panda reserves remains unknown at this point in time. As of May 20, two pandas at the reserve were injured, while search continues for another two adult pandas that went missing after the quake.[49] A group of 26 Malaysian tourists including a 90-year-old woman who initially were missing after the earthquake have been found alive. None of the Malaysian tourists were injured. They are about four kilometres outside Maoxian.[50]
The Zipingpu (紫坪铺水库) Hydropower Plant located 20 km east of the epicenter has been destroyed. The dam has severe cracks and "the plant and associated buildings have collapsed, and some are partly sunk."[51]. The Tulong reservoir Upstream is in danger of collapse. About 2,000 troops have been allocated to Zipingpu, trying to release the pressure through spillway. In total, 391 dams, most of them small, were reported damaged by the quake.[52]
China's Olympic Games organisers said that they would scale down the route of the torch through the country, and there was a minute of silence when the next leg started in the south-eastern city of Ruijin on the Wednesday after the quake.[53]
| Region | Deaths[4] | |
|---|---|---|
| Sichuan | Mianyang | 15,976 |
| Deyang | 15,627[54] | |
| Ngawa | 8,469 [55] | |
| Guangyuan | 4,521[56] | |
| Chengdu | 4,179 | |
| Nanchong | 30 | |
| Ya'an | 28 | |
| Suining | 27 | |
| Ziyang | 20 | |
| Meishan | 10 | |
| Bazhong | 10 | |
| Garzê | 9 | |
| Leshan | 8 | |
| Neijiang | 7 | |
| Dazhou | 4 | |
| Liangshan | 3 | |
| Zigong | 2 | |
| Luzhou | 1 | |
| Guang'an | 1 | |
| Total | 50,651 | |
| Gansu | 364 | |
| Shaanxi | 114 | |
| Chongqing | 16 | |
| Henan | 2 | |
| Guizhou | 1 | |
| Hubei | 1 | |
| Hunan | 1 | |
| Yunnan | 1 | |
| Total | 51,151 | |
According to Chinese state officials, the quake caused 51,151 known deaths including 50,651 in Sichuan province, 29,328 people were missing, and nearly 300,000 injured, but this figure may increase as more reports come in.[4] This estimate includes 158 earthquake relief workers who had been killed in landslides as they tried to repair roads.[57][58]
Officials and rescue teams have yet to reach some of the hardest hit areas closest to the epicenter due to roadways that were completely damaged or blocked off by landslides. The chief secretary of Wenchuan county said in a short satellite phone call that there were some 30,000 people gathered at the major town waiting for help.[59] One rescue team reported only 2,300 survivors from Yingxiu, out of a total population of about 9,000.[60] 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed in Beichuan county, Sichuan province alone, 10,000 injured and 80% of the buildings were destroyed. 8 schools were toppled in Dujiangyan.[61] A 56-year-old Taiwanese tourist was killed in Dujiangyan during a rescue attempt on the Lingyanshan Ropeway, where due to the earthquake 11 Taiwanese tourists had been trapped inside cable cars since May 13.[62] A 4-year-old Taiwanese was reported dead, and one missing.[4]
Experts point out that the earthquake has hit an area that has been largely neglected and untouched by China's economic rise. Health care is poor in inland areas like Sichuan province, where the magnitude-7.9 quake struck, highlighting the widening gap between prosperous urban dwellers and struggling rural people.[63] The Vice Minister of Health Gao Qiang told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that the "public health care system in China is insufficient."[63] The Vice Minister of Health also suggested that the government would pick up the costs of care to earthquake victims, many of whom have little or no insurance: "The government should be responsible for providing medical treatment to them," he said.[63]
Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reported official estimates of insurers' losses at US$1 billion from the earthquake; estimated total damages exceed US$20 billion. It values Chengdu, Sichuan Province’s capital city of 4.5 million people, at around US$115 billion, with only a small portion covered by insurance.[64]
Reginald DesRoches, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Tech, pointed out that the massive damage of properties and houses in the earthquake area was because China did not get an adequate seismic design code until following the big Tangshan earthquake in 1976. DesRoches said: "If the buildings were older and built prior to that 1976 earthquake, chances are they weren't built for adequate earthquake forces."[65]
News report indicate that the poorer, rural villages were hardest hit. Swaminathan Krishnan, assistant professor of civil engineering and geophysics at the California Institute of Technology said: "the earthquake occurred in the rural part of China. Presumably, many of the buildings were just built; they were not designed, so to speak."[65] Swaminathan Krishnan further added: "There are very strong building codes in China, which take care of earthquake issues and seismic design issues. But many of these buildings presumably were quite old and probably were not built with any regulations overseeing them."[65]
China's President Hu Jintao announced that the disaster response would be rapid.[66] Just 90 minutes after the earthquake, Premier Wen Jiabao, who has an academic background in geomechanics, flew to the earthquake area to oversee the rescue work.[67]
On May 12, 2008, China's Health Ministry said that it had sent 10 emergency medical teams to Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province. On the same day, China's Chengdu Military Area Command dispatched 50,000 troops and armed police to help with disaster relief work in Wenchuan County.[68] However, due to the rough terrain and close proximity of the quake's epicenter, the soldiers found it very difficult to get help to the rural regions of the province.[69]
The National Disaster Relief Commission initiated a "Level II emergency contingency plan", which covers the most serious class of natural disasters. The plan rose to Level I at 22:15 CST, May 12.[70]
An earthquake emergency relief team of 184 people (consisting of 12 people from the State Seismological Bureau, 150 from the Beijing Military Area Command, and 22 from the Armed Police General Hospital) left Beijing from Nanyuan Airport late May 12 in two military transport planes to travel to Wenchuan County.[71]
Many rescue teams, including that of the Taipei Fire Department from Taiwan, were reported ready to join the rescue effort in Sichuan as early as Wednesday. However, the Red Cross Society of China said that (on May 13) "it was inconvenient currently due to the traffic problem to the hardest hit areas closest to the epicenter."[72] The Red Cross Society of China also stated that the disaster areas needs tents, medical supplies, drinking water and food; however it recommends donating cash instead of other items at the time, as it was not possible to reach roads that were completely damaged or places that were blocked off by landslides.[73]
Persistent heavy rain and landslides in Wenchuan County and the nearby area badly affected rescue efforts.[74][75] At the start of rescue operations on May 12, 20 helicopters were deployed for the delivery of food, water, and emergency aid, and also the evacuation of the injured and reconnaissance of quake-stricken areas. By 17:37 CST on the 13 May, a total of over 15,600 troops and militia reservists from the Chengdu Military Region have joined the rescue force in the heavily affected areas.[76][77] A commander reported from Yingxiu town, Wenchuan, that around 3,000 survivors were found, while the status of the other inhabitants (around 9,000) remains unclear.[78] The 1,300 rescuers reached the epicenter, and 300 pioneer troops reached the main town of Wenchuan at about 23:30 CST.[79] By 12:17 CST, 14 May 2008, communication in the major town of Wenchuan is partly revived.[80] On the afternoon of May 14, 100 paratroopers, along with relief supplies, parachuted into inaccessible Maoxian County, northeast of Wenchuan.[81]
By May 15, China's Premiere Wen Jiabao ordered the deployment of an additional 90 helicopters, of which 60 were to be provided by the PLAAF, and 30 provided by the civil aviation industry, bringing the total of number of aircraft deployed in relief operations by the air force, army, and civil aviation to over 150, resulting in China's largest ever non-combat airlifting operation.[82]
The Chinese Government accepted the aid of the Tzu Chi Foundation from Taiwan late on May 13. Tzu Chi was the first force from outside the People's Republic of China to join the rescue effort.[83] China stated it would gratefully accept international help to cope with the quake.[84][53]
A direct chartered cargo flight was made by China Airlines from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport sending a sum of 100 tons of relief supplies donated by the Tzu Chi Foundation and the Red Cross Society of Taiwan to the affected areas. Approval from the PRC Government was sought, and the chartered flight departed Taipei at 17:00 CST, May 15 and arriving in Chengdu by 20:30 CST.[85][86] A rescue team from the ROC Red Cross is also scheduled to depart Taipei on a Mandarin Airlines direct chartered flight to Chengdu at 15:00 CST on May 16.[87]
Francis Marcus of the International Federation of the Red Cross praised China's rescue effort as "swift and very efficient" in Beijing on Tuesday. But he added the scale of the disaster was such that "we can't expect that the government can do everything and handle every aspect of the needs".[84] The Economist noted that China reacted to the disaster "rapidly and with uncharacteristic openness", which contrasted Myanmar's secretive response to Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the country 10 days before the earthquake.[88]
On May 16, rescue groups from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia and Taiwan arrived to join the rescue effort.[89] The United States shared some of its satellite images of the quake-stricken areas with Chinese authorities.[90] During the weekend, the US sent into China two U.S. Air Force C-17's carrying supplies, which included tents and generators. [91] Xinhua reported 135,000 Chinese troops and medics are involved in the rescue effort across 58 counties and cities.
The Internet has been extensively used for passing information to aid rescue and recovery in China. For example, the official Xinhua has set up an online rescue request center in order to find the blind spots of disaster recovery.[92] After knowing that rescue helicopters had trouble in landing into the epicenter in Wenchuan, a student proposed a landing spot online and it was chosen as the first touchdown place for the helicopters.[93] Volunteers have also set up several websites to help store contact information for victims and evacuees.[94]
The State Council declared a three-day period of national mourning for the quake victims starting from May 19th, 2008; The Chinese National Flag and Regional Flags of Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR were raised at half mast. It is the first time that a national mourning period had been declared for something other than the death of a state leader, and many call it the biggest display of mourning since the death of Mao[95]. At 14:28 CST on May 19, 2008, a week after the earthquake, the Chinese public held a moment of silence. People stood silent for three minutes while air defense, police and fire sirens, and the horns of vehicles, vessels and trains sounded. Cars on Beijing's roads came to a halt. [96][97][98] The Ningbo Organizing Committee of Beijing Olympic torch relay announced that the relay will be suspended for these three days.[99]
Many websites converted their front page to black and white; Sina.com and Sohu, major internet portals, limited their homepage to news items and removed all advertisements. Chinese video sharing websites, youku and Tudou, displayed a black background and only videos related to the earthquake were available on the homepage. Other entertainment websites, including various gaming sites, were also blacked out, or had corresponding links to earthquake donations.[100] After the moments of silence, in Tiananmen Square, crowds spontaneously burst out cheering various slogans, including "Long Live China".[101]
All Mainland Chinese television stations, along with some Hong Kong stations, displayed their logo in grayscale, while broadcasting non-stop earthquake footage from CCTV-1. Even pay television channels, such as Channel V China, also broadcasted earthquake footage. Foreign broadcasts in expatriate communities was suspended for the days of mourning.
On the evening of May 18, CCTV-1 hosted a special four-hour program called The Giving of Love (爱的奉献), hosted by regulars from the CCTV New Year's Gala and continual coverage anchor Bai Yansong, and attended by a wide range of entertainment, literary, business and political figures from mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Donations of the evening totalled 1.5 billion Chinese Yuan ($US 208 million). Of the donations, CCTV gave the biggest corporate donation at Y50 million. Of the celebrities present, Zhao Benshan, Zhang Ziyi, Jet Li, Liu Yifei, Yao Ming, Jolin Tsai, Mao Amin, Jackie Chan and Ni Ping all gave donations that exceeded RMB one million [102]. At 11:30 in the evening, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singaporean entertainers Joey Yung, Nicholas Tse, Wakin Chau, JJ Lin and Zhang Mingmin sang a song titled Tomorrow will be better.[103]
Because of the magnitude of the quake, and the media attention on China, foreign nations and organizations immediately responded to the disaster by offering condolences and assistance. On May 14, UNICEF reported that China has formally requested the support of the international community to respond to the needs of affected families.[104]
The Ministry of Civil Affairs said 10.7 billion Yuan (approximately US$1.5 billion) had been donated by the Chinese public. One of the country's most popular sportsman and Houston Rockets' center, Yao Ming gave $214,000 and $71,000 to the Red Cross Society of China. The association has also collected a total of $26 million in donations so far.[105] Other multinational firms located in China has also announced large amounts of donations.[106]
The Red Cross Society of China flew 557 tents and 2,500 quilts valued at 788,000 yuan (US$113,000) to Wenchuan County. The Amity Foundation already began relief work in the region and has earmarked US$143,000 for disaster relief.[107] The Sichuan Ministry of Civil Affairs said that they have provided 30,000 tents for those left homeless.[9]
On May 15, United Daily News reported that the top ten richest people of China had only donated a little over 32.5 million yuan altogether as of May 13th, drawing accusations of selfishness and callousness from Chinese internet users.[108]
Following the earthquake, donations were made by people from all over China, with booths set up in schools, at banks, and around gas stations.[109] People also donated blood, resulting in according to Xinhua long line-ups in most major Chinese cities.[110] Many donated through text messaging on cellphones to accounts set up by China Unicom and China Mobile.[111] By May 16, the Chinese government had allocated a total of $772 million for earthquake relief so far, up sharply from $159 million from May 14.[112] On May 16 China stated it had also received $457 million in donated money and goods for rescue efforts so far, including $83 million from 19 countries and four international organizations.[112]
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