Sichuan Quake

A major earthquake hit just south of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, PR China this morning at 2:28PM China time (1:28AM Houston time).  According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s website, the Chengdu quake was a magnitude 7.8 and likely caused massive casualties. Sketchy news reports suggest at least 3,000 - 5,000 dead, with many thousands more likely injured.

Recall the 1995 Kobe, Japan earthquake.  That one was a magnitude 7.2, killing over 5,100 people in a city with a vastly more “earthquake proof” urban infrastructure than that found in Chengdu and Sichuan Province.  My guess is that this one could be much worse than the Kobe quake.  While I am concerned for my friends and colleagues at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu, I’m much more concerned for the people living north of Chengdu toward the Minshan Mountains.  According to both the USGS and China’s State Seismological Bureau, the epicenter was in Wenchuan County (which I visited in 2007):

This area is about 100 kilometers or so northwest of Chengdu (roughly 60 miles) and is the home to a substantial number of both Tibetans and Qiang living in Sichuan Province’s Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture.

Update (12:15PM): The USGS has revised the magnitude up from 7.8 to 7.9. Xinhua, CNN, and the New York Times report deaths are now in excess of 8,500 and climbing…

Second Update (3:20PM): NPR’s Andrea Hsu’s onsite report of the scene from a Middle School in Dujiangyan:

We are just leaving the horrific scene at the Juyuan Middle School outside the city of Dujiangyan. Hundreds of parents are still standing in the rain as the army works to find children trapped in the rubble. One parent told us she could hear her son calling. A scene of utter desperation. Back a couple hundred feet was an area where rescuers — peoples armed police — were bringing bodies that had been retrieved. Families were rushing over to see whether the child was theirs. Under tents are families burning incense and candles and paper money next to the shrouded bodies of their loved ones. A terrible, terrible scene.