The call for prayer has been the theme of coverage at new media and blog service provider Netease, which has also created a map mashup wherein users in Wenchuan can report in live time what's happening in their area. Blog service and news provider Tencent, like many of its peers, has set up a number of different pages allowing users to express their support and shared experiences. has just released its first 2008 beta version of the company's hugely popular instant messaging client with a disaster relief theme, QQ Prayer; downloading it allows the user to send candles and yellow ribbons to display their support and compassion to earthquake victims. As with all internet companies, QQ has set up a donations page which has already seen users sending in over 13 million RMB, as well as a channel to report fund-raising scams.

QQ has continued aggregating user-shot video clips from around the earthquake disaster scene which now number in the hundreds, as well as having set up a chart showing the latest figures and updates from the relief mission, including a missing person's bulletin board which can be seen further down.

Sina.com has gone for a green ribbon campaign, and is also calling on users of its blogging services to pray for those lost and yet to be unburied, as well as compiling official CCTV footage along with user-shot video.

Sohu.com's main Earthquake page is also featuring clips from the few media allowed to report from the disaster zone as well as those uploaded by users, with the emphasis on the latter. As with most blog portal websites, details on how to donate to Chinese Red Cross are being given prominence.

Chinese search engine leader Baidu has turned its Earthquake page into a sort of operations center for all the different online and offline relief initiatives it has underway, with calls to action aimed at users also being seen on smaller blogging sites such as Blogbus, BlogCN and Xici Hutong, among many others.

Cat898 has put most of its front page toward discussion of the earthquake, and features a photo set of the men working on the relief mission front line.

And the blog portal at China.com, while featuring what appears to be one user's photos of the devastation hundreds of thousands are experiencing, is also now highlighting one post which proposes that people allocate 1% of their monthly income toward the relief campaign:

每人月工资的1%，对每个人来说不算什么，但是对于灾区的人民可是救命钱呀。相信我们的民族一定能够在危难中崛起。
借用一句广告词
有我，中国强

The overwhelming reponse to the proposal has been that people have already donated far more than 1% of their monthly salaries. The third comment on the proposal reads:

这次灾难中最大的灾难就是留下了数以万计孤儿！！！此时他们还在和其他的灾民一样接
受着救济，可日后的日子恐怕难以想象．时间长了我们的政府还会一如既往的想着他们吗？
即使想着他们无非也是逢年缝节的象征性的救济一下，况且专项救济资金不一定都能按期而
至！各个部门截留挪用之例每每发生，真正落到实处也是杯水车薪啊！因此我在此强烈呼吁
或建议！！！政府能不能即刻制定一政策：让全国有爱心的人民来领养！！当务之急是政府
出台相关的户籍政策和配套政策．如全部免去１２年的一切义务教育学杂费．．．等等！这
样就可以使领养者少去许多人为的麻烦，特别是户籍！！！

Anti-CNN.com has also set up a new ‘Earthquake Status' section, the top thread in which at present is a response to those making the argument online that corruption led to poorly-constructed school buildings in the Wenchuan area, which is why so many schools collapsed while government buildings remained standing: ‘Those saying that the government buildings are still in good condition can just shut their mouths'

Pioneering web 2.0 site Douban has set up a number of groups:

[Earthquake] How netizens have used Fanfou and Wikipedia to file real-time reports
Why the country is not accepting foreign assistance for now
Anti-poverty funds: ways to donate and know where your donation is going

There have also been prayer groups, more tips on how to donate wisely, a group to publicize new access points into cut-off Wenchuan as they are discovered, discussions over whether the torch relay ought to be put on hold, and even a group just to discuss initial photos that came out of the disaster areas. Groups set up by religious intellectuals like Wang Yi have seen numerous discussions taking place.

Some Douban groups have been deleted, but others have been set up to host discussions that were deleted off other sites. Then there's Douban's moving special earthquake page, where it turns out actually dozens of earthquake groups have been set up, each with their own avatars and many with hundreds of members.

Douban was actually one of the first to set up a space to help users find their missing loved ones. QQ's is still growing, there's even been a site set up especially for those missing from the 5-12 earthquake, and on Friday Google China released its own contribution, which builds off existing efforts underway on Tianya, Baidu, Soso, Sina and Netease.

Citizen and independent online media have been making contributions of their own. The Chinese-language entry for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake on Wikipedia was set up more quickly than its English-language counterpart, despite that Wikipedia Chinese is blocked from within China.

Citizen reporter Zuola has come out of retirement and arrived in Sichuan Friday with a shovel, batteries and medicine to help with the rescue efforts and will be sending updates to his Twitter account [zh] and late Friday night posted photos to his blog recounting what he saw from on the train to Chengdu and in the city itself, after meeting up with a local NGO:

The SocialLearnLab has posted in support of those organizing post-disaster psychological counseling for relief workers, volunteers and the victims.

Countless bloggers in Sichuan have been reporting what they see; BlogCN.com user Ayue writes of trying to go on with life and work in Chengdu, of rumored explosions and water stoppages and food shortages, long line-ups at supermarkets and having to go hungry:

Blogbus user Frees writes also of going on with life post-earthquake, and shares a picture of the crowd gathered outside the local Ikea where they work:

Photos from Netease blogger Wan, also in Chengdu:

Baidu user Cinderella in Ya'an, Sichuan posted photos from one of her nights spent sleeping with the community outside in the park:

One outdoor enthusiast and photographer has posted a number of photos of blood and goods donation drives from where he blogs in Leshan, and Yahoo!China blogger Puping777 has a wide variety of photos of his own, taken in devastated Beichuan while there to help out. The Wuqing blogger has photos of road slides on mountains near Aba in Sichuan province.

Well-known Bullog blogger Song Shinan, who lives near Chengdu, has been working overtime to aggregate all bits of information he can find in what has now turned into a series of highly-informative posts that are being mirrored onto his Netease blog.

Technology Sociology Science Fiction futurism blog Qixianglu, another website calling on readers to turn to their spiritual sources of support to pray for the earthquake victims, has been tracking stories related to the earthquake as they come out; part of their strategy has included a QQ group, a Douban group, and tags on Technorati, Del.icio.us, Zooomr and Flickr.

The MeMedia collective has being doing in Chinese for total coverage of Earthquake discussions what the crew at Shanghaiist have been doing in English; among all the links MeMedia has been aggregating and sharing publicly on Diigo has been the last blog post from a teacher in Beichuan who didn't survive the earthquake, photos of a school sports activity from May 11.

Entertainment reporter/blogger Tu Motuo at Bullog.cn is actually in Dujiangyan right now and has posted photos of a crumbled hospital and a city in darkness with only generators at this point with which to function.

Tang Buxi at Blogging for China has translated a blog entry from a medical volunteer at one of the sites visited by Premier Wen Jiabao this week:

I really am not used to those Sichuan provincial leaders. We’re chewing on bread rolls, and our beloved PLA Army, Armed Police warriors… they’re chewing only on dried instant noodles. But those leaders are eating two warm dishes and rice. At lunch I saw the premier while he was resting, and he was only eating a roll and salted vegetables. I cried at that moment.

Also from the MeMedia links comes a Tianya thread that's been getting passed around, ‘Photos from the earthquake disaster site that you won't see on TV!' showing the full extent of the both human and structural damage that has taken place.

Blogger Oliver Ding has set up a community space on SlideShare for those affected by and working against the damage done by the earthquake, one of the many ways to help the earthquake victims that in turn is being shown support on Digg.

Veteran blogger Popoever has posted quite a number of graphics of different styles and sizes for those wishing to display and rally up support for relief fund-raising being carried out by Chinese Red Cross, both on his own blog and on Flickr. Several of those blog badges contain the information for a campaign Chinese Red Cross is carrying out in collaboration with China Mobile, which allows any of its hundreds of millions of users to donate 1 or 2 yuan via SMS from their mobile phones:

Perhaps as a response to concerns many bloggers have vocalized regarding donating to Chinese Red Cross, but at least in keeping in line with several previous fund-raising drives over the past two years, blog portal Bullog, which hosts many online celebrity and high-profile media workers' blogs, was quick to launch a donation drive of its own, with accounts opened and organizers in Sichuan by the 14th. Those organizing the Bullog donation activity are some of the most well-known journalists, editors and bloggers in the country.

Support for relief efforts from English-language bloggers has been equally swift and thorough. Overall support for Red Cross China has been so strong that accessing the Red Cross website for the past several days has been difficult due to the high volumes of traffic it has been receiving.

In no particular order, here are just a few of the many blog posts foreign and English-language bloggers in China have given us in just a few hectic days:

http://www.ifgogo.com/80/how-to-donate/
http://cnreviews.com/uncategorized/china_earthquake_relief_and_donation_guide_-_will_update_20080514.html
http://cupofcha.com/2008/05/16/ways-to-donate-to-earthquake-relief.html
http://www.chinavortex.com/2008/05/how-chinese-websites-are-helping-donations-for-sichuan-earthquake-victims/
http://shanghaiist.com/2008/05/13/red_cross_society_earthquake_sichuan.php
http://beijingbookworm.com/whatsnew.htm
http://www.pandapassport.com/chinese-internet/donate-for-adspace/
http://www.lostlaowai.com/commentary/blog/2008/05/15/add-a-quake-relief-donation-badge-to-your-blogsite/
http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2008/05/help-chinas-qua.html
http://chinesepod.com/earthquake_relief
http://shanghaiist.com/2008/05/16/green_scene_how.php

With only a few handpicked pro-CCP media being allowed to report openly from the disaster scene combined with the roadslides and remote locations being the hardest hit, the not-so-new role that microblogging has played in overall coverage of the earthquake hasn't been discounted.

With sites like Summize.com making it instantly possible to see what's being said at any given time in Chinese on sites like Twitter, domestic Chinese services such as Jiwai and Fanfou took it a step further and provided their own [Earthquake] tags. On Fanfou alone there are even accounts that have been set up specifically to track developments as they unfolded; one here from charity NGO 1kg.org, and another from liveblogger ‘River Crab Goes Ashore'. On Twitter, someone has set up an account just to track seismological events in China as they take place.

With Summize.com for Twitter and Fanfou's built-in regional search options, it's quite easy to seek out those microblogging their experiences of the past few days according to location; say Guangyuan, for instance, just 15 miles away from one of the nuclear warhead plants that might have been disrupted during the quake.

Anyone who follows the ‘friends' of the chinaquakewatch account on either Twitter or Fanfou will be given instant access to a carefully-selected group of users who have been sticking closely to microblogging the events of the last few days as they personally have seen them unfold. Aftershocks could be felt in Chengdu on Friday, and here's what several Fanfou users had to say:

10:40 am, Ameko随

中共你救不了人就快滚一边去!强烈要求境外支援!别把希望放在恶魔身上…快快自救啊中国人!!

11:46, parco77

现在4级左右的余震我已经开始觉得摇着爽了。摇麻木了。

13:28, fruitfan

又震了

13:29, venqia

又来

13:29, Alex06

刚刚又震了.估计成都感觉更明显!

13:34, Flying

刚才又晃了一下

13:37, fruitfan

今天的余震还比较明显~

13:40, parco77

刚才那一个。。太震撼了= =|||。。我看到隔壁几幢楼的人纷纷又跑下楼。

14:03, yalaner

又震了?杯里的水晃着.

14:39, 橘子皇

余震一起，卖场人跑光光

14:45, yalaner

又震了,很厉害的余震.

16:08, tokyoegg

今天中午又发生了一次余震，震感很烈。以前还不觉得，现在有点恐慌了。

16:13, tokyoegg

我现在坐在这里都能感觉到房子在很轻微的晃动。

16:32, kake

韩国救援团，欢迎…

17:20, Flying

现在四川手机卡打电话都不停机

18:52, tokyoegg

又来一强余震，要崩溃了！

19:28, Alex06

紧急通告：四川AB型血液告急！！！

21:08, winning

花了一个小时才打通志愿者热线，却被告知只有男生才能奔赴前线，我草，你歧视咱女生么，我可是比某些男生要强悍的呀。

22:53, fruitfan

到汶川的路又断了~

(May 17) 00:16, 橘子皇

恩，这次余震持续时间比较长

00:16, venqia

又震了~！

00:47, Flying

据说已经有伤员转移到乐山的医院，团委什么时候可以组织我们出动啊？

00:57, Pandaemonium

受不了我爸，每次余震都要打个电话来说一次…你不要告诉我你害怕…

In spite of these restrictions on people carrying cameras and taking pictures, some have gone out to record the extent of the damages. There is anger over the failure of authorities to evacuate the affected villages, even when they were allegedly aware of the impending cyclone and the possible devastation it could cause. The following images, uploaded by YouTube user aungsayapyi may affect sensitive people: they are very graphic, include dead bodies and should be viewed with discretion and an adult's consent:

YouTube user AfterNargisYgn has been uploading a multi-part series of videos featuring images of the effects of the Cyclone in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, previously known as Rangoon. People removing downed trees, wading through waters and drying up their mattresses, clothing and in general trying to clean up and move on.

YouTube user Burma4u uploaded a video of the aftermath in Latbutta, with Cyclone Nargis' victims crowded in refugee shelters, trying to sleep as they mull over what will happen to them in the near and far future.

An insightful video about the Burmese people's future has come from myochitmyanmar, another YouTube user who has uploaded a video with some English subtitles, interviewing Laputta survivors and refugees on their current situation: at the refugee camps, on the streets: rice donations and clothing hand-outs for children, private initiatives done without the State Peace and Development Council who governs them. Meanwhile, a picture on Burma News shows what looks like Red Cross aid, which is supposed to be for Cyclone refugees, being sold on the streets.

The following video, also from aungsayapyi shows how people are experiencing life in the refugee camps with donations from private donations, and a Military General's arrival, carrying promises instead of clothing, food or water. They proceed to tell refugees that the people who died, died because of bad karma, and that they should consider themselves lucky to be alive. They give some recommendations about grouping themselves according to villages and then leave. It has been subtitled in English for a better understanding of the events:

In the YouTube Blog they've also highlighted the video community's efforts to help Myanmar and provide aid, and they highlight both news networks and private initiatives who are documenting the cyclone and letting the world know what is going on in this small Southeast Asian country. For example, Nightwatcher1982 of the Netherlands has promised that for every video response to his video he gets, he will donate $5 to the Red Cross, and if it's a good video, he'll donate $10:

Global Voices Online has been providing extensive coverage of the disaster, aggregating information from different citizen media sources in the region on what is happening with food aid, water and the refugee situation as death tolls continue to rise. Please don't hesitate to go over to our Special Myanmar Cyclone Coverage page and read the posts that the amazing team of volunteer authors have been writing with translations from Burmese blogs telling first hand accounts of life in Myanmar right now. You can also follow our Myanmar feed on twitter.

There will also be a global blog action day on behalf of the Burmese victims on May 17th, when people are asked to tell others about the crisis in Myanmar, and some are already organizing fundraisers and events.

The front page of Li's blog

Clicked on the relevant articles of Li's blog, the page appears to be”Sorry, the blog you visit doesn't exist.”

A copy of Li Shihui's article on chinalabs.com:

地震预报专家欲哭无泪 :今天的强震有人预报

中国科学院工程地质力学重点实验室   李世煇

2008-05-12 23:45:02

在西方现代科学技术主导下，破坏性地震（5级以上）的预报，特别是临震预报是不可能的。这是国内外地震界主流的共识。从这个角度看，32年前的唐山地震和今天的汶川地震都是不能准确预报的。凤凰卫视“有报天天读”提到：有的报纸说唐山地震是“三分天灾，七分人祸”；“时事辩论会主持人说：如果唐山地震时不拒绝外援，不会死几十万人。这些看法不符合实际。实际情况是，如果尊重中西文化优势互补的科学家的意见，这些灾难倒是可以避免的。请参阅本人博客上转载的和发表的有关文章。

在中国，一批（1970年代）年轻的中国地震工作者学习中国传统文化的精华（包括充分利用历史文献记载和“取象比类”的方法等），取得遥遥领先国际的科研成果。例如，耿庆国根据历代(包括1956-1970年)大旱与地震关系的统计，发现“6级以上大地震的震中区，震前1-3.5年往往是旱区。旱区越大，干旱时间越长，相应的震级越高”的统计规律（公元512年-1879年中国大旱后2-3.5年,发生了7次7.5-8级大地震）。1972年耿庆国提出“旱震关系大地震中期预报方法”，根据这一规律，耿庆国预报了1975年的海城地震，特别是1976年的唐山地震。在1980年代出版了专著《中国旱震关系》（科学出版社）。这些成果触犯了地震界当权者的利益，耿庆国被调出预报队伍，去了地震报社。

今天，2008年5月12日，听到四川汶川发生7.8级强震，中国的地震科学家耿庆国欲哭无泪，心里在流血。2006年他根据旱震关系提出中期预报，近年阿坝地区将发生7级以上地震。2008年4月26日和27日在中国地球物理学会下属的“天灾预测委员会”经集体讨论,作出“在一年内（2008.5-2009.4）仍应注意兰州以南,川、甘、青交界附近可能发生6-7级地震”的预报（文字报告已报中国地震局等，4月30日密件发出），而且，耿庆国根据强磁暴组合，明确提出“阿坝地区7级以上地震的危险点在5月8日(前后10天以内)”（以上地震预报三要素均已明确）。明明是国宝，却受到当权的主流地震科学家的排斥，只能靠微薄的退休费坚持搞科研。可惜这位退休的地震科学家的话，没有起到作用。

我的感觉是满腔悲愤。什么时候耿庆国、汪成民、任振球、王迪兴等一批国宝才能不受排挤，放开手脚为振兴中华效力呢？

Seismologist with tearless grief: Today's strong quake was predicted
.
Key Laboratory of Engineering Geomechanics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Li Shihui
2008-05-12 23:45:02
.
Under the direction of the modern science and technology of Western World, the forecast of destructive earthquake（over 5 magnitude) is impossible, especially the imminent earthquake prediction, which has been a general consensus in the seismology world. From this point of view, there is no way to well predict the Tangshan earthquake 32 years ago or today's Wenchuan earthquake. The TV program “Read News Everyday”(有报天天读）of Phoenix mentioned: some newspapers said the calamity of Tangshan earthquake is “mainly caused by human error” ; the anchor of “Debate on Current Affairs”(时事辩论会) said: if China had accepted the international aid, hundreds of thousands of people would have survived. Those opinions are not in accord with the facts. The truth is the tragedy might have been avoided if authorities had accepted the views of the scientists, who combined the research of the east and the west. Please refer to the relevant articles I copied or published in my blog.
.
During 1970‘s, a group of young seismologists in China had achieved great results which were well ahead of the world level by studying the essence of Chinese traditional culture(including the methods that fully make use of the historical documents and “analogy drawn from phenomena”). For example, according to the statistics of the relationship between drought and earthquake throughout the ages（including 1956-1970), Geng Qingguo discovered a law that “the epicentral region always suffered droughts 1-3.5 years before the earthquake over 6 magnitude. Besides, the larger the drought region occupied and the longer the drought lasted, the higher the corresponding magnitude would be.” (2-3.5 years after the long droughts during 512-1879AD, seven 7.5-8 magnitude earthquakes had occurred in China) In 1972, Geng Qingguo put forward a theory of “medium-term earthquake prediction based on the relationship between drought and quake”. By that law, Geng Qingguo successfully predicted the Haicheng earthquake in 1975 and especially the Tangshan earthquake in 1976. In 1980's, He published his treatise The Relationship between Drought and Earthquake in China (Science Press). However, those achievements challenged the powers in the Chinese seismology circle, so Geng Qingguo was shunted from the prediction team to an earthquake newspaper office.
.
Today is May 12, 2008, Chinese seismologist Geng Qingguo is suffering with tearless grief. In 2006, according to the relationship between drought and earthquake he predicted in recent years there would be a serious earthquake over 7 magnitude in Aba autonomous region. After a group discussion on April 26 and 27, 2008, Committee of Natural Hazards Prediction subordinate to Chinese Geophysical Society (CGS) reported that “a 6-7 magnitude earthquake may occur to the south of Lanzhou, around the borders of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai.” (the written report had been sent to the China Earthquake Administration by confidential letter on April 30). What's more, Geng Qingguo clearly indicated that “the dangerous point of an earthquake over 7 magnitude in Aba region is on May 8 (within 10 days before or later)” in accordance with the magnetic storm Combinations.（The prediction above had obviously pointed out all the three essential factors). Geng Qingguo, an undoubted national treasure, is excluded by the earthquake experts of mainstream, and can only depend on a meager pension to continue his research. The pity is what this old seismologist said didn't make any difference.
.
I am filled with grief and indignation. I was wondering if there will come a day when Geng Qingguo, Wang Chengmin, Ren Zhenqiu and Wangdixing such national treasure are not frozen out any more, and freely work for the rejuvenation of China.

摄于2006年12月17日“从海诚地震到青龙奇迹研讨会（第20次天地生人学术会议）”会前，左为耿庆国，右为汪成民，中为李世煇。

A picture taken before the “From Haicheng Earthquake to Qinglong Miracle Conference” on December 17, 2006. The one siting left is Geng Qingguo, Wang Chengmin on the right and Li Shihui in the middle.

The mass circulation of Li Shihui's article in the blogsphere and BBSs has provoked more criticism on China Earthquake Administration which did not publish any warning before the dreadful earthquake while some other netizens expressed their doubt about Li's unofficial statement.

Comments on KDNET:

作者：东风51 发布于 2008-5-15 0:11:55
……
总之，应以科学老实，实事求是的态度对待有关地震的信息，向民众讲清这些信息既不能说成是谣言，也还不足以可靠到可以公开发表的程度，相信人们是能理解的。简单粗暴的意识形态斗争式的处理方式只能适得其反，这个教训需要汲取的。
另外，拿耿庆国的预测说事也实在不可取，因事先并无法知道他预测的准确与否。
有朋友认为事先应对他的预测给予足够重视，因为人命关天。但这些朋友不知像这种“预测”成千上万，事先让人们从浩如烟海的信息中找到哪个是有价值的是困难的。
……

Author: Eastwind 51 Posted on 2008-5-15 0:11:55
…
In a word, the information about the earthquake should be treated with scientific and realistic attitude. Tell the people that those information is neither rumors nor totally reliable truth. I believe people will understand that. To deal with the situation only by violent ideological confrontation can only backfire. The authorities should learn the lesson.
On the other hand, it is really inadvisable to give too much emphasis to Geng Qingguo's prediction, because before the earthquake no one knew whether his prediction was right or not.
Someone may believe that it's a case involving human life, so the authorities should have paid more attention to his prediction. However, those friends may not know there are hundreds and thousands of such kind of prediction. it's not easy for the authorities to pick the valuable out of vast information.
…

作者：后台操作 发布于 2008-5-15 0:21:34
让政治需要下地狱吧！

Author: Background Operation Posted on 2008-5-15 0:21:34
To hell with political needs！

作者：李三来也 发布于 2008-5-15 3:28:16
如真有此事，地震局长应送交法办！

If the thing is true, the head of the Earthquake Administration should be handed over to the justice!

Comments on Tianya:

作者：中国结3 发布于 2008-5-14 11:13
如果地震局的领导有一丝人性的话 这样的预报至少也应该引起他的一些重视吧 密而不发 他居心何在！！让他去和温总理一起到四川 去挖那些遇难者！！

Author: Chinese Knot 3 Posted on 2008-5-14 11:13
If the head of the Earthquake Administration still had a little humanity, at least he should have paid some attention to the prediction, but he just kept it as secret. What was he up to!! Let him go to Sichuan with Premier Wen and unearth those victims.

作者：游客 发表于 2008-5-14 12:04
国家作了自己该做的事情,可是地震局是否履行了自己的职责?是否存在失职??国家是否应该追究???全国人民都在为温总理,为所有营救的官兵、医务人员、媒体工作者感到骄傲；为死难者感到悲哀的同时，那些玩忽职守的人，是否该去体验一下失去亲人的痛苦呢？？？
我不懂地震学，不知道上述人员是否是地震学的专家，如果是，那真是中国的一大悲哀。如果中国不重用人才，国将……

Author:Guest Posted on 2008-5-14 12:04
Our country is doing all that which is to be done, but whether the Earthquake Administration carried out their responsibilities? Is there a negligence of duty?? Should the authorities call the Earthquake Administration to account??? All the people are proud of Premier Wen, the rescue officers and soldiers, the medical personnel and the reporters; When those people who are negligent of their duties mourn for the dead, is it necessary to let them experience the bereaved family's feelings???
I have no idea of Seismology and I am not sure whether the person mentioned in the article is a Seismologist. If so, it's really a big woe of China. If China does not value talents, the country will…

作者：游客 发布于 2008-5-14 13:06
我觉得不是预测不出，也不是玩忽职守，而是怕负责任。如果预测的地震确实发生了，那么算是立了一功。但是更多时候可能是预测不了那么准确，责任谁来负呢？从技术专家到行政首长，谁愿意承担这个风险呢？

Author:Guest Posted on 2008-5-14 12:04
I don't think it's a negligence of duty or problems of prediction capability, but a terrible fear of responsibilities. If the predicted earthquake occurs, the prediction become an honor, but more often the prediction will fail, and in that case who is going to be responsible for the failure? From the technical experts to the chief executive, who is willing to take the risks?

作者：游客 发布于 2008-5-16 3:46
这些是地震一发生,我就产生的疑问了.地震局的相关人员还在打太极,说什么不能预报,不能预警.
狗屁,那要这个地震局是干啥的,就是为了测已经发生的地震的级数的吗
我们可怜的中国老百姓!!!!!那么多幼小的生命!!!!!!!

Author:Guest Posted on 008-5-16 3:46
I was in doubt about the earthquake at very beginning. The officials of Earthquake Administration are still practicing Tai chi chuan, prevaricating with a excuse that prediction and early warning are impossible. Bullshit！The work of this Earthquake Administration is only to measure the quake magnitude?
Poor Chinese!!!!! We have lost so many little lives!!!!!!!

Blogger Kobayashi Akihito at Shirokuma blog writes about the way that Twitter was used to broadcast early news about the earthquake, and how this indicates a change in the way journalism is now functioning:

これまでのジャーナリズムは、言うなれば「選ばれた人」だけが情報を発信するというものでした。最近は市民ジャーナリズムというかたちも登場していますが、ここでも「市民記者」という存在になれるのは限られた人であり、しかも（各サイトによって程度の差があるようですが）編集部の検閲が必ず入ります。つまり一部の人間や組織が情報を選別し、その選別に対する信頼感で、情報の信憑性が保証されているわけですね（もっとも最近では、それに疑いの声を上げる人が多くなっていますが）。

一方 Twitter が構築したネットワークの中では、誰もが自由に情報発信することができます。その分ウソやウワサ話といったものも多く含まれることになりますが、別に従来のメディアのように情報の信憑性を保証しているわけではありませんから、受け手はそれを鵜呑みにせず「これは本当だろうか？」と吟味することになります。その情報を発信したのが、普段から信頼できる発言をしている人物か。一人だけでなく、他の人々も同じことを語っているか。同じ情報を受け取った他のユーザーは、どのような反応をしているか。そういった要素をベースに信憑性を判断し、場合によっては自らも「中国で地震があったらしいよ」と発言する――それがまた別のユーザーに伝わって、という流れになるわけですね。もちろんこれは理想像ですが、今回「Twitterで目にした情報はすべて正しいようだ」という発言が出ているのは、従来のジャーナリズムとは別の仕組みで、正しい情報が伝わる仕組みが現れつつあることを示しているように思います。

Japanese TV broadcast about the potential influence of the earthquake on the Beijing Olympics

Whereas Akihito focused on the medium, most bloggers in fact were writing about the actual earthquake itself. In a post entitled “Will the Olympics be alright?”, one blogger expresses sympathy for victims of the earthquake while also questioning the strategy of rush construction, which apparently compromised the structure of some buildings:

まずは被害に追われた中国の、そして世界の方々にお見舞い申し上げます。
タイミングもタイミング、恐ろしいほどのタイミングで地震が起きてしまいましたね。
折からのチベット問題に加えて、この大地震。
しかも、死者は１万人を超えそうだと。
また、この被害は地震のみならず、急成長裏の手抜き工事が大きく影響しているようです。
こうなると素人のわたしとしては、果たして無事にオリンピックは開かれるのかと。
いや、むしろこれも愛国心の高揚に一役買うかも知れませんね。
オリンピックもいいですが、突貫工事で被害が拡大したという点も早急に対処してほしいですね。

At Wakaba no Nikki, one blogger remarks on all the disasters hitting Asia recently, including the typhoon that took 30,000 lives in Myanmar:

このところ、ミャンマー・サイクロン（あまり『ミャンマー』という呼称は使いたくないが…）、中国・四川省大地震と、アジアで大災害が続発している。ほぼ１日たって大地震の死者は１万２千人と発表されたが、今なお９万人以上の人が生き埋めになっているとか。一刻も早く一人でも多くの人が救助されることを願ってやまない。私も僅かながら義援金を送ろうと思う。

The blogger then comments on a strange phenomenon observed before the earthquake hit:

ところで、今回の「大地震の前に、同省の綿竹市で数十万匹のヒキガエルが一斉に移動するという異常現象があった」というニュースを読んだ。日本ではナマズが暴れると言われるし、以前読んだ地震の本には、雪の上を這いずっているヘビが確認された後に地震が起こったと記されていた。冬眠中のヘビを叩き起こすような変化が土中に起こったのだろう。また私の経験では、近所の犬が夜中にうるさく鳴き続けるので目が覚めたら直後に地震が起こったことがある。このような動物の異常行動を「宏観異常現象」と言うそうで、動物達は電磁気や化学物質の変化を感知しているのではないかと考えられている。

Blogger Tatsuro Satoh at the Voice from Kobe draws a comparison with the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake:

テレビで、地震による空港での混乱の状況を放映していたが、テレビ画面からも「極めて強い揺れ」を感じ取ることができた。
　場面は全く異なるが、一瞬阪神淡路大震災を思い起こした。
　記事の写真は、余震を恐れ、路上で一夜を明かした人々を写し出している。阪神泡時代震災時、私自身もある意味で、写真が写し出している人々のように、茫然としていたことを思い出した次第である。。。

While bloggers were mostly sympathetic with the victims of the earthquake, online bulletin boards and forums expressed a different perspective. An anonymous poster in the 6th comment on a thread at 2channel about the earthquake writes:

6 : 名無しさん＠八周年：2008/05/14(水) 14:51:39 ID:4t7Tb1Oe0

売国政治屋だらけで支持する政党が無い国、それが日本。
５億払ったって中国共産党に流れるだけだ。
今まで兆単位で貢いできたＯＤＡもそれが日本からの支援だとは殆どの中国人は知らない。
なぜなら共産党はその事実を絶対に教えないから。
そして洗脳教育によって日本は中国に金を貢いで当り前だと中国人は思いこんでる。
今も昔もそこに感謝の念などは全く無い。

Another poster, shortly thereafter in comment number 39 on the same thread, describes how they came to 2channel expecting to find sympathy for the victims of the disaster, only to be met with hostility:

39 ：名無しさん＠八周年：2008/05/14(水) 14:57:27 ID:I7toTpGP0

[…]

同じように心を痛めている人も多かろうと思い、インターネット掲示板
２ちゃんねるを覗いてみた。だがそこで目にしたものは、フリーチベット
支持者(ネットウヨクと呼ばれる若者達)の心無い、中国人被災者の方に
対する目を疑うほどの罵詈雑言の書き込みの数々だった・・・。

waiphyok tweets very interesting questions and statements such as -

(#) Will first US Aid Flight be attacked in the Burma sky?
(#) 900 million relief to Tsunami + 5 million a day expenses for activities , only 3 million to Burma ? Come on US. More please =]
(#) Nargis == Tsunami ? .. The fact is Nargis + Burma's Poverty (far far greater than) Tsunami . !_!

He also twitted tips and comments -

(#) Folks from US are whining. Well this time, it's not about Tyranny of Oil , it's Empathy of Humanitarian.
(#) Tip: Aid workers should write their requests/forms in “Burmese” . Should notarize to native language first with embassies before u apply. =|
(#) I want to read the Burmese official statement =)

and adds some opinions -

(#) Shame on you CHINA, ur country will look like that of Resident EVIL! . EV71 !!!!!!
(#) the prophecy has come true! This is not like the girl with blue eyes as in 10k BC. Simply, we are just destined to unmask Mountain of Gods!!
(#) Nargis is combination of Tsunami (it floods), Earthquake (cos buildings collapse), Tornado (things flying), Forest Fire(fire broke out too).

mmhan has a few more to say about Nargis in his tweets and generated quite interesting conversations among his followers.

(#) I'm once again feeling down after watching some videos of the aftermath of Nargis in Myanmar.
(#) It's juz gr8, UN doesnt step in & Burma deprts aid workers http://is.gd/e4O While we r @ it, lets juz effin w8 for another thousands to die.
(#) Dammit, while thousands are feared dead, these politicians are fearing their help might look like a confrontation, what a sick world it is!
(#) been following the news of Myanmar for a week now and still the situation is simply disappointing. :(
(#) Shouldn't there be a crime for stalling aid like that in Myanmar? Shouldn't UN hv entered by force for the sake of thousands of dying ppl?
(#) Yangon, Myanmar is having a hard time getting fresh water.
A bit disappointed to see that 30 day for a million voice campaign isn't growing really well. Need support @ http://is.gd/bbz

Meanwhile, myochauhtun reports -

(#) 20 Death photos after Nargis Cyclone: I felt sad now after looking up this album from Picasa. IR.. http://tinyurl.com/6q5t8u
(#) We should request Linkin Park for donation coz they donated millions since tsunami
(#) I can't concentrate on works :( God where are you? Please help us or tell them to accept int. help :(

and mgthantzin analyzed and throw some questions -

(#) Did China allow foreign correspondents access to the disaster zone?
(#) many Twitter users across the world care about Myanmar. i thought we were abandoned. felt glad.
(#) Nargis killed 62k (and counting). it's a natural disaster which was informed of 48 hours in advance? Unbelievable!!!?
(#) Shame on You, CHINA!!! Such a cruel decision you made.. totally inhumane!

While yangonthu wonders “why is it so hard to get people to give donations?”, Rule of Lords publishes an informational post of Cyclone Nargis. Pistachio compiles a great information in her post, Meaningful Action in the Cyclone Aftermath, listing many blog feeds, twitter accounts and news posts. New Mandala compiles the academic commentary of the cyclone Nargis, “As the humanitarian response to the cyclone continues I expect that experts, of all sorts, will have much more to say”.

Burmese Gold Bull wonders about Burmese Junta actions in contrast to China.

While China has transformed itself into a responsible member of international community, Burmese junta's behaviours still are worse than that of barbarians.

In the past, the way China handle the natural crisis is very similar to what Burmese junta is doing now. They don't care for the lives of their own people.

Today China is a totally different country. They've learned how to handle a crisis. They know how to make their people happy. And the best is their leaders know how to behave in front of the cameras.

In contrast, our military government remains ignorant of the outside world. In the eyes of international community, Burmese junta are worse than barbarians. They don't know how to behave. They don't know the values of lives. They don't know what are the norms and values in international communities.

and here are some of the interesting conversation about Myanmar among international twitterers.

Many people ask about the word “Nargis”and WorkingWriter is no exception; across the globe sanjuroku explains “Nargis” (نرگس, IPA: næɵr-ɡɵs), is a Persian word meaning daffodil - just dropping the knowledge for you all”. elm200 commented “China looks much better than Burma in terms of the determination to help their own nationals” while davechua asks “Will people forgot Myanmar's tragedy after what happened in China?“.

DivinePurposeMV throws a question to her followers “Can you call for a worldwide revolt against Burma? Should we be invading or something?” and there follows the never ending stream of news tweets such as these: “(#) Typhoon Rammasun is not an issue now but another tropical cyclone is spinning up and moving into Myanmar (Burma) today. Not a good thing!”, “(#) Beaten out by Burma, the earthquake in China, wildfires in Florida, and havoc from storms in the midwest.”, “(#) Cyclone Nargis to Myanmar, then Earthquake in China… RIP to all victims”.

Indeed, voices from twitterers are important and we should not miss them.

Through this Twitter account, we learned these updates:

Burmese journalists face restrictions on cyclone coverage as authorities have placed restrictions on journalists covering the disaster areas.

Burmese junta forcing storm victims to leave monasteries, separating families.

Cyclone death toll is rising

An interesting campaign: Project Nargis - Using internet to check weather report step by step. (in Burmese)

Twitter updates have led us to visit these blogs:

Myanmar News uploads an interview about the situation in some refugee camps:

“I can see many refugees and there are many camps. Our house provided medicines and the like as much as we could, but not sufficient. Many people are still streaming in. The number of people who can donate and the number of people in town are so unbalanced. Last night I asked the driver of the district authority chairman, how many refugees are there, I asked. He told me that there are 10,000, but my estimation is, it must be more than that. He told me that materials for support have arrived. But, he said, there are people who went to the sea to make a living and they suffered. These people are also among the refugees. These people will be questioned and turned back, and only those who are genuine refugees will be given the support. They will be checked. Only when they think that they are true refugees, would they be given support, he said.”

Burmese Gold Bull writes about the (unintended) consequence of the earthquake in China which is now the focus of mainstream media:

“I felt heartbroken for the survivors and victims of China's earthquake especially because I just witnessed the destruction power of natural disaster beforehand in my country.

“In my opinion this earth quake in China is a severe blow to Myanmar, not just to China. Now that there is a natural disaster in bigger and stronger in China, Burma will have to share the media attention it has been receiving, with China. The consequence of this China earthquake will be that the plight of my country's cyclone survivors will once again fall into the obscurity.

“But I would like to take this opportunity to contrast the two government's responses towards these tragedies.”

This narrative of A glimpse of my life deserves to be quoted at length:

My experience with Nargis
There had already been warnings of the cyclone Nargis lurking around the coast since the end of April, but I had thought that it won't come our way because in my life time, a cyclone had never reached us in Yangon. Previously, most of the storms that occured in the Bay of Bengal mostly went into Bangladesh or India, or sometimes, into the coast of Rakhine.

“On May 2nd, we got news that the storm was heading directly into Yangon, so the employees were released to go back home early at 2pm. Even at that time, I was planning to stay until office hour was over because looking outside, the sun was still shining. But later, after being urged by friends online to go back home early, I went back home. When I got home, electricity was still on, so we opened TV, and on MRTV 3, there was a news flash scrolling, saying that the storm had passed Hi-gyi Island and is on its way towards Ayeyarwaddy, Yangon, Bago, and Mon States. The radio station was also broadcasting warnings of this. Electricity was cut off at 6:30pm according to ration schedule, so we just sit around with emergency lights. It had started raining, but it was not very windy yet. So I went to bed around 9pm. I hardly ever wish anything whenever I prayed, but that night, I prayed that the storm will not cause many casualties. I wasn't able to fall asleep quickly, because of the noises of the rain falling on the roof.

“When I woke up, it was around 2:30am, and the wind was howling now. I can hear noises on the roof, and I was afraid that the roof, even though it's one of those big one-piece roofs that cover the whole house, will fly away with the wind. So I got my pillow and a blanket and went into the living room and found my mom and my cousin sitting on the seats with a candle lit. They couldn't sleep either, I guess. My father was praying in the shrine room, and my brother was awake too. It wasn't raining heavily at that time, but there was very strong wind. I can hear the next door house's windows slamming shut and open again (no one was at home) and hear shattering sounds - the charms and the decorative lamps on that house falling down on the ground, and some windows breaking. Even though I thought I had closed my room's window tightly, I guess it wasn't, cos it flew open and slammed the walls and back again, and 3 glass panes shattered. So we had to tie the windows with the ropes to be sure they were closed. We just sat on the chairs in the living room, wrapping our blankets around us to keep out the mosquitoes, and tried to get some sleep. I think I got some sleep for about an hour until I woke up again around 5am.

“By that time, it was already getting light outside, so we can see the trees and everything, all moving around like it's going to fall any moment. It looks more scary since we can see with our eyes now. We looked outside and saw that the make-shift water-proof roof of the restaurant near our house had collapsed. The night-watch stand had flipped over (though I could have sworn I heard 3 chimes from there at 3am - maybe the watchman had run away later). The tall coconut trees were swaying left and right so dangerously, but none had fallen over. Even amidst all this wind and chaos, there were people outside, wearing raincoats and umbrellas, picking mangoes and jack-fruits from the streets. Electricity had been cut ever since it started raining, thank god, because the electric poles had bent and the cables were hanging on the road. It started raining heavily and the wind was howling, and my brother's room was leaking from the windows, so I had to help him soak up the water from the floor and wring it out into a bucket. I was praying for either the wind or the rain to stop because we were getting tired of wringing out the water. Around 10am, the heavy rain stopped, and was just falling, and it wasn't so windy anymore, so we were able to leave my brother's room, and tend to other parts of the house and dry them up.

“The wind and the rain stopped at around 2pm, I think, I'm not sure about the time anymore. Soon, people started coming out and look around in the neighborhood. The trees that have been on our street ever since we were young - the two big star-flower trees where we always picked the flowers that fell onto the ground - had been uprooted. The road was blocked by one of this tree, and another tree, and people were already cutting the tree to pieces so that a car or two can pass. Already, the people were lining up in front of the shops that sell those aluminum sheets that you cover the roof with.

“All around Yangon, there were shortage of water since the water supplies had been cut off, and those who have wells, they have to use a water-pump, but no electricity. So some went to Inya Lake to get water, and bathed there. Our house has a small well, so we can carry water with a pail. Actually, most of the houses on our road had their own wells, since municipal water was unreliable (since our pipes always got stolen by other houses) so water was not a problem for us. And some of the monasteries let people come and bathe there and carry water.

“On Monday, I went to work because I was called to come the night before. Thankfully, there was some buses running, and it cost 300 Ks. ( the bus ran from Sule to North Dagon Township) Our office was all wet because it was located in a high-rise building, and there was windows, and the water seeped in from the cracks. But luckily, our PC towers were on the floor, but on top of some styrofoam, so they didn't get wet. So we unhooked all the pc's, put them on the desks, and get to work. The building had no electricity but the generators operated, and we opened the air-conditioning, so the floor dried quickly. After eating lunch, we were dismissed, and told that we will be informed when we should come back to work. At that time, they were running the generators for only a short time (until 11:30am) because diesel was getting expensive: about 10,000 ks. ($10) per gallon on the black market, since the gas stations were closed down and were not distributing.

“My birthday was on May 8th. Previously, I had planned to make a BBQ party at my home on May 11. But when the time arrived, I was in no mood to celebrate. Already, I was hearing about the news and devastation in other parts of Ayeyarwaddy, and it made me felt so sad that so many innocent people had to suffer. I was angry at the merchants for raising the prices. I was angry at the government for not accepting the aids yet. My problems and most of Yangon's citizens problems were petty comparing to those storm-hit areas in Ayeyarwaddy Township.

“My parents say that they have never faced a storm such fierce before in Yangon. Heck.. not even a 90-year old person had experienced it. That's one of the reasons why we were not prepared for it, taking it lightly. And also due to not very accurate weather forecasts. Yeah, sure, the storm warnings were posted since April 29, but exactly where it will hit - they did not say. I hope that they've learned their lessons by now too.”

My Little World uploads a poem

Burma's Non-Political Flood
Thu I Sann

Water, water, all around me
But I am so..so… thirsty.
Here, there, human bodies' everywhere
But none alive accompany me and share.
And I look at myself
Broken hopes and empty handed.
And I look further around
Just like a post heavy-battled ground.
Wild cyclone has wiped all things down.

Where are those kids from innocent playground?
Where are students in the green and white uniform?
Where is my town always singing along country rock songs?
Where are my mates who search for freedom and independent?
Where are those local chicks with new-leaf-color lips?
Where are those parents with a too busy habit?
All my questions disappear,
All my answers whisper…and whisperer.

Collaborated disaster of the nature and the dictator!
And I constantly hear voices from my empty stomach
Asking me food, forcing me speak out and stand up.
I silently speak with my loudest, to the entire world
Then mankind's sympathies come and knock my door.

Let me now open my door
‘Cause those sympathies will help to fix my wounded floor.
Let me invite them with an open heart
‘Cause those sympathies will help my life reconstruct.

Hello Mr. militarists,
Your guns are currently useless,
My demands are urgently needed,
Here, I'm alive, not a corpse yet,
Neither much time left.
Together, let's work out as a nice diplomat!

(Dedicated To My Mother And People Of Burma Who Lost Lives And Who Hardly Survived Under Both Natural And Political Weathers!)

More photos of the disaster, images on the ground and documentation of relief efforts. A survivor from Lubutta captured on video. Another survivor tells her story through a video.

Meanwhile, an online petition requesting the United Nations to apply “responsibility to protect” doctrine to force international aid into Myanmar has generated more than 4,000 signatures.

Global Voices – Myanmar also has a Twitter account.