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Geology Picture of the Day - Bechuan County, Sichuan Province in China
Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 @ 10:25 am by Dave Schumaker
Monday’s Sichuan Earthquake in Central China has claimed at least 12,000 lives according to authorities. Survivors are still being pulled out of the rubble and news remains slow coming out of the region.
Today’s geology picture of the day shows the damage in Beichuan county, in China’s Sichuam province.
Source: AP / Wang Jiaowen
Recording of the Sichuan Earthquake
Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 @ 9:05 am by Peter Polito
Two hosts from NPR’s afternoon show, All Things Considered, were in the Sichuan Province when the recent earthquake struck. Melissa Block and Robert Siegel were in Chengdu, approximately 60 miles from the epicenter. Melissa Block was in the middle of the interview when the earthquake struck. The audio bit of the interview is available here (just below the photo gallery). About 40 seconds into the recording you can hear the building start to shake, she ran outside narrating what she was looking at as she ran. If you listen closely you can hear a gap in the shaking between the P and S waves. Also, note the time when the shaking starts and when she states that the shaking is subsiding, it is well over a minute.
Having never experienced a quake of this magnitude it is quite surreal to hear. And living in the Bay Area it makes me want to check my earthquake kit.
M7.8 Earthquake in Central China
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008 @ 10:28 am by Dave Schumaker
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central China earlier today. It was centered in the Sichuan province, about 1500 kilometers from Beijing. Shaking was felt as far away as Beijing. CNN reports that at least 10,000 people are feared dead. The earthquake was rather shallow (the focus being located only 10km beneath the surface).
Source: USGS
The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: An earthquake occurred 90 km (55 miles) WNW of Chengdu, Sichuan, China and 1545 km (960 miles) SW of BEIJING, Beijing, China at 12:28 AM MDT, May 12, 2008 (2:28 PM local time in China). The magnitude and location may be revised when additional data and further analysis results are available. There have been no reports of damage.
Source: Reuters
From CNN:
At least six more earthquakes — measuring between 4.0 and 6.0 magnitudes — happened nearby over the three hours after the initial quake at at 2:28 p.m. local time (0728 GMT), the USGS reported.
advertisementA spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Committee said no Olympic venues were affected by the earthquake. The massive Three Gorges Dam — roughly 600 km east of the epicenter — was not damaged, a spokesman said.
The earthquake was also felt in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, and as far away as Hanoi, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand, according to the Hong Kong-based Mandarin-language channel Phoenix TV.
Update: The latest estimates say that over 10,000 have been killed. And it will probably be significantly higher than that as rescuers reach cities that have been cut off due to damages to roads and lines of communication. From CNN: It reported that authorities were yet to reach Wenchuan County — which sits at the epicenter of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake with a population of about 112,000 — because of damage to roads.
[Via USGS]