Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Earthquake Update

Other the course of yesterday evening and today more news has been coming in about Monday's earthquake. When I checked the news immediately after the quake only five people had been reported dead. Those numbers have now become absolutely staggering. The death count has risen to a confirmed 10,000 but 10,000 more are still unaccounted for, making this China's largest natural disaster in a long time. Here is the latest NY Times article, as well as some pictures and maps. Several schools were also killed in the quake and a resulting landslide, leaving more than 1,000 students dead and countless others are still missing.

Minutes after the first quake occurred in Sichuan province, an additional, smaller quake occurred on the outskirts of Beijing, which is presumably what we felt yesterday. Everyone I talked to reported feeling dizzy for a few minutes during the quake. Aid efforts may be limited because of the massive amount of damage after the recent Myanmar cyclone.

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