Earthquake in West China

After I put down the phone, my heart never felt so heavy. I just called my parents in my hometown, Chengdu,  a city with 12 million people, which is just 90 kilometers away from the center of the strong earthquake at a magnitude of 7.9.  It has killed more than 10,000 people so far. The death toll is still rising hour by hour.

Fig. 1 Earthquake map by the United States Geological Survey

At around 2:30 PM Beijing time today (May 12), a terrible beast began to shake the city furiously for about two minutes. Since it was still school time, hundreds of children in some middle schools were suddenly buried over when the campus building totally collapsed during the strong shake. Thousands of survivors from their destroyed houses were bought to the open places near the hospitals to receive some simple treatments to prevent from further bleeding. They varied from old women in their 80s to Children who are only several years old. Hospitals themselves are no longer safe since more earthquakes could come at any time, thousands of patients were also persuaded to leave hospital buildings and stay in the open places around. Even new born babies were also taken out with intensive cares from nurses nearby. Not like people in California, people in West China have no experience of the earthquake in the past 30 years, let alone for this strong one. Millions of people dare not back to their home for sleeping at night. They simply slept on the street or the city squares with light around to drive away their fear and anxiousness. Government began to set up large tents as the temporary shelters, and offer food, water and blankets etc. for all those suddenly homeless people.

Fig.2 Collapsed building in BeiChuan County

Fig.3 Collapsed campus building buried hundreds of students

Fig.4 Rush wounded students to the hospital

Chengdu is by no means the worst-hit place in this disaster. In a single county nearby, more than 7,000 people were reported being killed so far. The highways and railways to the cities near earthquake center were heavily blocked by huge rocks fallen from the landslides nearby.  All communications, either landline or mobile, had been totally cut off. Nobody knows what had happened to the city named Wenchuan with 100,000 people which lies in the very center of the earthquake. Further news can be found in New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/world/asia/13china.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

or Economist:

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11359253

Fig.5 wounded people receive the treatments in the street

Fig. 6 People use concrete pipe as temporary shelter

After earthquake, many desperate parents are searching for their sons or daughters; Many children are crying for their missing parents; Thousands of people are still buried in the ruins of collapsed building while some are luckily being rescued by the arriving soldiers. Everywhere hospitals are full of the wounded, and medical cares are far less adequate to meet the need. It is now raining and cold in early May in Sichuan. Millions of people are still sleeping outside. And tents, blankets or sleep bags are all badly needed. Anybody who is willing to help can go to American Red Cross

or:

HongKong Red Cross

Fig. 7 People lined up to get food and water

Fig. 8 People staying in temporary shelter

Fig. 9 People take care of patients outside a evacuated hospital

Fig. 9 Earthquake survivors staying at a sport stadium in Mianyang City, where more than 10,000 have taken refuge

Fig. 9  A 11-years old girl carried out of the rubble by rescuers

Fig. 9 A rescuer carries an old woman out of BeiChuan County

Fig. 9 Chinese premier speaks to people buried at a collapsed hospital

God bless West China. God bless those people who are suffering from this terrible earthquake.