Around two hours ago, an earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale struck in southwestern China's Sichuan province, centered in Wenchuan county, and with tremors felt as far away as Beijing and Hong Kong.
Update, Tuesday 9am: QQ has been aggregating video shot by its users from many of the affected areas; many of these videos can be seen here. The video below comes from user Gary, taken in an unspecified location:
The earthquake was reportedly felt in Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, parts of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Henan, Ningxia and Jiangsu.
See below for updates by region.
From Chinese video-sharing website Tudou, user danta1990's footage taken in the Sichuan capital Chengdu:
Danwei has already compiled a number of updates from various sources, as has Shanghaiist, with information on user-shot video from Sichuan Chinese video portal websites were quick to get up on their front pages.
This clip on 56.com comes from user Little Fish in Wenchuan, Sichuan:
And this from video sharing website Youku.com comes from user xiaoyu82528, showing the effect of the earthquake as felt as far away as Beijing:
Twitter seems to be a top source of breaking details for the moment; Many are writing of difficulties connecting to those at the center of the quake zone over telephone, but the internet seems to still be functioning. Beijing-based tech guru Kaiser Kuo writes that the government Seismological Bureau website is currently inaccessible, presumably from high levels of traffic.
Users inwalkedbud and Lyrrael have been posting updates in English, reporting what they can. River Crab Goes Ashore has been collecting live updates on Chinese microblogging service provider Fanfou.
Inwalkedbud writes from Chengdu, quite near the center of the earthquake: “Doesn't seem to be much damage to buildings, but people are shaken up. Electricity/water/gas seems to be working still.”
Other areas have not been as fortunate; Chinese Twitter user Raine, based in Hubei, writes of possible destruction there:
同事刚电话回家，湖北的荆州、沙市的房子倒了一片，有灾情。
Also via Danwei is a note to keep following Summize.com, one Twitter search engine which supports Chinese characters, for steady updates; updates found via Summize and other places will be added here as they are found. Photos can be seen on Flickr via searches for ‘earthquake' in English and Chinese and on Yupoo.com.
Anyone with more information regarding other areas around China that have been affected is invited to gives us a heads-up in the comments.
Microblog updates by region:
Sichuan
Photos of the devastation in Jiangyan, Jiangsu provinceDujiangyu, one of the hardest-hit places known so far. Several portray dead bodies.
Monday 21:52 http://jiwai.de/IQ%E5%B0%8F%E5%AD%90/statuses/8802456
“English”语言的维基百科“List of earthquakes”词条中已经增加了此次四川大地震的内容,此外该语言已经新增了“2008 Sichuan Province earthquake”的词条。中文维基百科尚无相关内容更新。
Monday 22:40 http://jiwai.de/doggienest/statuses/8803411
往成都固定电话打通了
http://fanfou.com/statuses/g2QgIe8OWzM
Monday 22:25 http://ledao.in/blog.php?blog_id=156
汶川是去九寨沟的必经之路，那里山势陡峭，地表植被因过度开采受损，而岷江流经此地，造成水土流失严重，是个容易发生地质灾害的地方，这次惨了。
四川大学要求同学离开宿舍 通知4点余震开始
https://twitter.com/shizhao/statuses/809213970
据说四川地区CDMA，小灵通可以打通
https://twitter.com/niubi/statuses/809205236
chengdu airport closed. flights heading there beijing redirectede to chongqing
https://twitter.com/guiyinzhang/statuses/809162622
Monday 5:30 pm: https://twitter.com/Aether/statuses/809193571
成都互联网通讯有能连上的了。
http://fanfou.com/statuses/l6XlCAxBJCI
绵阳花盆啥的都碎了，饮水机震倒说塌了好多房子，人都到河堤上去了
http://fanfou.com/statuses/aOdJ1I6y1YU
四川阿坝州理县县城1人死亡8人重伤 汶川县发生7.8级地震后，截止12日17时10分，阿坝州政府应急办了解到的情况是：汶川、理县、茂县交通、通讯全面中断，黑水、小金、金川、马尔康、松潘、九寨沟等县均有房屋倒塌、道路中断、山体滑坡、人员伤亡(其中茂县林业电台报告伤亡人员较多，
Beijing
https://twitter.com/flypig/statuses/809127403
中国南北网络断了吗？怎么啥都上不去了？
https://twitter.com/imagethief/statuses/809121832
https://twitter.com/kaiserkuo/statuses/809123623
https://twitter.com/kaiserkuo/statuses/809124220
https://twitter.com/Tangos/statuses/809124276
https://twitter.com/niubi/statuses/809132301
https://twitter.com/fuzheado/statuses/809131321
photo https://twitter.com/flypig/statuses/809135452
Shanghai
https://twitter.com/nocas/statuses/809139803
https://twitter.com/casperodj/statuses/809196553
https://twitter.com/leoshcn/statuses/809195725
Shaanxi
https://twitter.com/yesky12/statuses/809191510
https://twitter.com/QienKuen/statuses/809199223
只能和西安那边发短信，电话打不进去。。
Henan
Monday 21:39 http://jiwai.de/jiangyh/statuses/8802154
15时48分，河南省地震局通过手机短信、电视、广播等形式，向群众发布震情提示：“地震台网测定今天14：28四川汶川发生7.8级地震，震感波及我省，不会影响正常生活，请不要恐慌，本局正关…
http://fanfou.com/statuses/O8h2ttRuQJ8
郑州国家电网公司的大楼都疏散到空地了
Jiangxi
http://fanfou.com/statuses/7bjUhAwYzH8
Anhui
https://twitter.com/seekDench/statuses/809183753
Guangdong
Monday 21:19 http://fanfou.com/statuses/LhifhcSKPXw
76年的唐山地震马上就被翻出。现在全国最忙碌最紧张最加班加点的部门不是地震局，不是救灾队，是中宣部
Zhejiang
https://twitter.com/Fenng/statuses/809127914
杭州网络正常。公司大部分同事都跑到外面去了。
http://fanfou.com/statuses/k0jIs0Mkmz8
浙江嘉兴、上海间发生5.7级地震 暂无人员伤亡
http://fanfou.com/statuses/nOwacdhRpdA
宁波世贸中心大楼倾斜3度！！！！！！！！！！！！
The World Trade Center in Ningbo has tilted 3 degrees!!!!!!!!
Chongqing
https://twitter.com/Tangos/statuses/809188431
https://twitter.com/shizhao/statuses/809211439
重庆2小学倒塌，4学生死亡
Changsha
http://twitter.com/dadi007/statuses/809209238
Guangxi
http://fanfou.com/statuses/8lgMEGMOzUE
Hubei
Wuchang: http://twitter.com/lenvow/statuses/809197185
湖北多地有地震震感 武昌出现手机信号盲区
[...] a pingback (notification of a link), which made me read his blog post, which then led me to Global Voices Online’s links to videos and other Twitter and blog reports. This is why journalists should be blogging. Possibly [...]
[...] Global Voices Online has links to videos and other Twitter and blog reports. Possibly related posts: (automatically [...]
[...] Video Footage - China: 7.8 scale earthquake felt across most of China [...]
[...] Global Voices Online: Video and netizen comments [...]
[...] China: 7.8 scale earthquake felt across most of China [...]
[...] China near Chengdu, Sichuan. Coverage all over the place but check IfGogo.com, Shanghaiist, Danwei, GlobalVoices. If you are on Twitter, you can follow the people that account ChinaList follows and that’s a [...]
Gosh! China! Alas!
Let’s deliver what we can see here.
[...] reports began to appear via Twitter and video postings. Global Voices has an outstanding post here on the variety of ways that news from China has come in over the [...]
[...] · No Comments A few sites putting up reports from areas hit by the earthquake in China. John Kennedy at GlobalVoices.org will get you there. Thanks to Dan Washburn at Shanhaiist.com, which also has an impressive set [...]
can anyone tell me anything about the Dianjiang County Social Welfare Institute in the Sichuan Province? Was it damaged or anything? Some of our family is adopting a little girl from there and we can not get any word in our out of China. We are praying for her safety!!! Any word would be appreciated
[...] that draft have even more help in getting it right the first time. For more, check out the post at Global Voices Online. function fbs_click() [...]
[...] Global Voices Online has links to videos and other Twitter and blog reports. [...]
Best wish to China and Chinese people.
Hope all is well.
We have endured hardships such as ice storms, western attacks, earquakes, etc. We are strong, and we will prevail.
UPDATED: 7.8 magnitude quake hits Sichuan, felt across China…
An earthquake struck Wenchuan in the eastern part of Sichuan province this afternoon, hitting 7.6 on the Richter scale. This report indicates it registered as a 3.9 quake as far away as Beijing. The Guardian picks it up from here:……
[...] 7.8 級的強大震災（China: 7.8 scale earthquake felt across most of China，感謝 Bob Chen 跟 John Kennedy [...]
[...] early to spread the news. From that moment there were live radio interview, pictures, google maps, videos all being sent in real-time, says VentureBeat. Young Dutch Twitterer CasperOdJ was one of the first [...]
[...] Global Voices has another good update and list of links [...]
[...] As always, Global Voices Online is the solid antidote to Anglocentrism, while the Frontline Club is much more positive about the whole Twitter [...]
[...] todo un ‘en vivo’ del temblor que anticipó laoleada de reacciones en la [...]
@Knights
Couldn`t resist, could you?
`ice storms, WESTERN ATTACKS, earquakes` (My own emphasis, his own spelling errors)
Anyways, my thoughts are also with those poor people stuck in those buildings. As someone who regularily experiences small earthquakes in Japan, I can only imagine what a 7.9 must feel like. Let`s hope for the best.
My thought are with my fellow Schuanians who are struggling this deadly quake, and my deep condolence to those suffering the big loss of their beloved in this disaster.
Wish the best in rescue efforts.
Quick clarification above. John, you list the photo of a collapsed building from 都江堰 as from “Jiangsu” province. You probably got it confused with the phonetically similar 姜堰, which is in Jiangsu.
Those pictures are from Dujiangyan, which is in Sichuan.
Whoops. Thanks for the heads-up Tang, I’ll make that correction asap.
Just a note to let ‘you’ know that there are many people hoping and praying for the best for those affected by this major earthquake. One of the first things I heard was of the middle school that collapsed with 900 children. I pray for their safety, but know that they won’t all make it. I pray that they did not suffer and that their parents can find peace.
What has been happening in Burma and now middle China makes the tornadoes and relatively minor flooding here a minor irritant by comparison.
[...] interesting page set up with links to blogs and photos coming directly from the effected regions. Click here to access it. Bookmark It Hide Sites Posted in [...]
My prayers are with the people affected..especially with the kids who are in those schools and their parents….
[...] been a huge load of blogging and tweeting live as the earthquake and its aftermath unfolded, with first accounts - reports, [...]
[...] news feeds (I see Mong done a GREAT job covering the news on GV, many thanks) and now it’s China earthquake, earthquake. Geez the world is such a mess! Alright stay calm, don’t worry, I’m back so everything [...]
The clip you have identified above as being from Wenchuan can not possibly be from there — All shops and government offices are required to have their signs posted in both Chinese and Tibetan throughout Aba Prefecture, and there is no Tibetan on any of the signs in the photos. Also the surrounding vegetation and terrain does not resemble Wenchuan at all. Wenchuan is still totally cut off, so I don’t see how this clip could have gotten out …
I have a friend who is a police officer there (who I can’t get in touch with) so I am following this pretty closely!
thanks,
lhamo (from Beijing)
[...] China: 7.8 scale earthquake felt across most of China “Around two hours ago, an earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale struck in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, centered in Wenchuan county, and with tremors felt as far away as Beijing and Hong Kong” (tags: China Sichuan earthquake) [...]
Dear Kristia: I have checked the Chinese net a little. Dianjiang felt the shake, but didn’t suffer much from it. The county has reported 3 fallen houses and occasional injuries. No fatalities so far.
?I wouldn’t worry too much: Dianjiang is in northeastern direction of Sichuan, closer to Chongqing than to Chengdu. It’s far enough for the quake to pose low risk to the local populace. Take care, and good luck.
kristia:
“can anyone tell me anything about the Dianjiang County Social Welfare Institute in the Sichuan Province? Was it damaged or anything? Some of our family is adopting a little girl from there and we can not get any word in our out of China. We are praying for her safety!!! Any word would be appreciated”
My prayers are with the victims and families that are affected by the earth quake.
Could you post information of organizations that we can donate money to help?
I also urge people to donate. It does not matter how much from $1 to $$$$$$$$$. We have to help these victims.
thanks
Vince,
Thank you. Our family spent 3 hours via the net in a conference call with the adoption officials last night. They were told that their daughter to be was evacuated safely. I pray they are right. Thank you for the info!
Has anyone heard about a group of foreign tourists in the Wolong Nature Reserve?
Money at this moment is not particularily needed, the central government of China has set up a rescue fund of 860 millions RMB,about 120 millions USD; and the donation from the public has risen to hundres of millions as well; What people need most at this moment is medicine and transportation out!
But all the roads into three towns of Wenchuan county have been blocked, even no communication received from there until this moment;
Let’s pray for the victims
Maybe we ought to try some more underground Nuke tests. Maybe we can get the whole earth to rock-n-roll!
It really shocks me what some people posted on the following website
http://www.ctvedmonton.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080512/China_deathtoll_080513/20080513/?hub=EdmontonHome
China need some serious help right now. Tears dropped down from my face when I saw my home country people is buried amoung the deads. As only a 13 year old girl. I feel resiponsible for the diaster here.
Can you imagine 120,000 people and mostly middle schooler like my age buried down there, dead, in middle of the class. Once their lives had been taken away, they could never get it back.
On of the Canadian posted that China doesnt not need our tax dolloars because they are rich and and has military power.
Really shame on those people who said it.
US only donated 500 grands to the 120,000 dead people out there. They are not just Chinese, they are our brothers and sisters that had lost their lives suddenly.
It really makes me mad when some people says China could handle it on its own.
Seriously, did anybody notice how poor China is right now. I’ve lived in China for 9 years and I know that. Some of my own classmates could not go to school because of their lack of money. Little kids lives in horrible living conditions. There is beggars everywhere on the streets, carving for food to survive. I hope god could forgive those people who had posted those shameful comments.
Just one day, mother, father, grandparents, husbands, and wives lost their relatives. The mothers of the dead students in Sichuan cried hopelessly has death came and took their children. I can’t imagine if a huge earthquke accoured and took away my family adn friends.
Everybody who has a heart should really pray to those kids who is still under there, waiting for their mom and dad to come and give them a hug instead of dying under the building. I just can’t stop feeling bad, it’s 120,000 lives down there and still more not found.
Please everyone, pray for them, if you have a heart.
[...] This post combines post-earthquake video mashups from various sources, area maps as well as Twitter reports in English and Chinese — a sample below: 四川大学要求同学离开宿舍 通知4点余震开始 Sichuan University has ordered all students out of dorms, saying aftershocks to being at 4pm [...]
I am absolutely heartbroken over all the lives lost in china. All those poor poor little children lost, and their parents, bereft, scrabbling through rubble and debris in a desperate attempt to find their only child. I cant even begin to imagine what its like there for everyone right now……… but my heartfelt prayers are with everyone who has had the terrible misfortune to have been touched by this raging unforgiving tragedy, and indeed for all the souls lost already………
[...] Global Voices Online » China: 7.8 scale earthquake felt across most of China GVO’s roundup of citizen journalism and other local nonprofessional reporting & blogging from China about yesterday’s quake. (tags: China citizen+journalism video blogs breaking+news news+biz media+evolution disaster tidbits+fodder) [...]
i live in southern california and i seem to be the only person that i know of that is very concerned now about the ‘ring of fire theory’ and wonder if this very serious earthquake is going to strike japan, siberia,alaska and then the great san andreas fault line next all the way through california, mexico and down to south america, a searthquakes were as recent in central south america already.ha sanyone asked dr. kate hutton of cal-tech yet?
[...] Click here to see Global Voices Online’s quake posts. Those on-scene accounts may have influenced the reporting by China’s state media. [...]
I am very sad upon the devastation in China now, the Chinese people are very wonderful and the suffering of the parents, children, and all has engulfed me the last couple of days. I will be making my first visit to China in a few weeks and only wish I had more time as to go to the ravaged provinces and help out somehow. We are all on this planet together and we should all help one another as we can…I see that the people over there are doing much for one another, quite as much as possible, I suppose. This type of disaster can happen most anywhere, anytime…and a good chance right here in my area. I see that we will have many events in the coming years…I hope our world comes together someday and that the governments see fit to step in upon these events, and not play the money and power game. It doesn’t look like the US sent that much money, but I don’t know the full story on that. I will be praying for the country, people, and children of China, we should all do so…
[...] earthquake in China's Sichuan province, besides taking its toll on tens of thousands of Chinese citizens, has also had reverberations far [...]
[...] earthquake in China's Sichuan province, besides taking its toll on tens of thousands of Chinese citizens, has also had reverberations far [...]
[...] a roundup of other compelling quake-related acts of journalism from China and elsewhere on the Web: Global Voices Online: Roundup of blogging and local nonprofessional reporting on the [...]
MOST URGENT!!!!!!!China Earthquake - ===========================
I have been following the China Sichuan Earthquake very closely and I cannot understand WHY the leaders are still NOT ACCEPTING Foreign firemen and rescue workers!!. The US has the best tools and the most experienced rescue teams ready to fly in. So why NOT.. Even From SPore , Msia or South East Asia… they have trained civil disaster team who can do a much better job ! WHy dont China use them!! Just say YES and more lives can be saved but it has to be NOW or it will be too late!. The many soldiers and helicopters are fine BUT they are not cut out to dig out the buried people!!!!!!!!! You are using the WORNG tool for the JOB!!…. I hope someone can convince your leader to act!!
[...] blogasphere, at least two prominent figures on China, Elliot Ng and Rebecca Mckinnon, founder of Global Voices immediately started mobilising other bloggers and connected individuals through their blogs, [...]
Purplerain,
China has the swiftest reaction to this tragedy. PRC continuously sent up to 130,000 relief workers, soldiers, firefighters, doctors, and nurses, in less than 3 days to the earth quake striken area. It was more difficult initially as torrential rain, landslides, ruined vehicles, and other debris blocked the roads. These rescue teams had to walk by foot, etc to cross these obstacles in the mountainous terrain. Allowing the foreign relief workers initially would have created more traffic for the local relief teams. However China did welcome aids such as food, water, medicine, blankets, tents, money, etc around the world. Russia sent a 30 ton of such aids to China two days ago. The world poured in money. Blood donators in mainland stood in long lines till late night to donate blood. Civilians volunteer to use their own vehicles and resources to supply food and water the victims.
Since the weather clears up, and debris have been removed (not perfect) but passable. Currently China is accepting rescue teams from Japan, Taiwan etc.
most American InfoTech-analysis are incorrect. China’s state-media were instructed to conduct extensive coverage of this tragedy because it didn’t want to be seen as “slow to response” by certain International press and foreign gov’t . ergo. they allowed pix and videos to be posted in QQ, Tudou and other domestic sites, before spreading worldwide .
My best wishes go to China at this time as do those I think of many people in the United Kingdom. While this disaster has occurred on a massive scale and has claimed so many lives, those of us living in the west have been greatly comforted and impressed by the massive efforts of the PLA and other organisations to help as many people as possible. I only wish that the Burmese government valued it’s people as much.
“China’s state-media were instructed to conduct extensive coverage of this tragedy because it didn’t want to be seen as “slow to response” by certain International press and foreign gov’t . ergo. they allowed pix and videos to be posted in QQ, Tudou and other domestic sites, before spreading worldwide .”
I don’t think possible criticism by the international press and foreign governments was a factor. Hasn’t stopped China from heavily censoring news about North Korea, Farlonggone, and other sensitive topics. The motivating factor was likely competition from internet news sources. China’s state media had two choices: let foreign news organizations and domestic news forums tell the stories or take advantage of better access to write its own narrative of the tragedy.
[...] like Tudou and Youku, providing eye-witness accounts that mainstream media have struggled to get. Global Voices Online and the BBC provide a roundup of social media coverage of the [...]
Sonagi is so negative even in time of tragedies. Such a poor person has No heart and No soul, what else don’t you have?
If dalai and human rights groups care so much about human rights. They should stop sitting around complaining about China. They should pull their acts together and start raising funds for the 5 million homeless victims in Sichuan which consist of 53 ethnicities including tibetans, han, huis, Qiang etc.
Singing from Ruins of a Kindergarten: No Pain when I Sing
Beijing Evening News, May 15th
100 meters down from the building of Beichuan County Committee is the most densely populated area of the county, and now it has become the biggest ruin. Buildings cracked in the quake and were totally devoured by grave landslide.
Around one o’clock yesterday (May 14th), rescuers found a little girl trapped in the ruin of a kindergarten. Since after-quakes were frequent, the ruin might fall again at any moment, which has put the little girl’s life greatly endangered. “Come! Someone’s here!” A dozen of rescuers gathered around the spot. “Uncle, I’m not scared, please don’t worry.” During the process of rescuing, the girl tried to comfort the rescuers while they were trying to relieve her. Stones were moved one by one, and until then did the rescuers find that the little girl’s legs were stuck and covered with blood. Biting her own lips, obviously the little girl is severely tortured with agony.
“Two tighers, fast runners…” With simple tools, the rescue progressed very slowly, yet just at this moment when everyone was in great anxiety, the girl blurted out this child’s song. “I will feel no pain if I sing.” After being rescued, the girl told a rescuer that her name is Ren Siyu.
“Siyu!…” 6 o’clock in the evening, when it was turning dark, a couple was striding in the rain, and their deplorable cry echoed in the valley. “Really? Thank you so much!” Knowing that their daughter had been rescued, they held the rescuer’s hand tightly and broke down in tears.
****************************
“I feel no pain when I sing.” This reminded me of something from Churchill’s Memoir: When he was inspecting London after an air raid, he found a vibrant green plant in an air-raid shelter, and he said, because of this plant Britain will triumph, for their love for life weighs this much. (Commented by Xi Wang)
In the 512 earthquake, a friend was fortunate enough to survive, walking out of the ruins alive and with a story. It was a story that surfaces in every disaster, a story so common, yet it touches us all while we go about our lives.
When the rescuers found her, she was already dead, crushed by the collapsed building. They could see her through the debris, on her knees with hands flat on the ground, holding up her body. It was almost as if she was bowing ceremoniously, but her body was misshapen, crushed by the building. Rescuers reached a hand in to check that she was dead, shouting and using a stick to lightly knock on the bricks, waiting for a reply or some sign of life from her that never came. When the group turned their attention towards the next pile of debris, the team leader suddenly rushed back, shouting, “Over here, hurry!” He once again stopped in front of her body, trying his best to reach a hand in to feel the ground sheltered by her torso, shouting, “There’s someone here, a child, still alive!”
The rescuers worked to move the debris carefully, finding her child sheltered beneath her torso. A baby, about four months old, wrapped in a red blanket with yellow flowers stitched on. Sheltered by his mother’s body, he was unscathed. They carried him out from the debris, sound asleep, his sleeping face warming the hearts of everyone at the scene in the face of death.
A doctor rushed over, undoing the blanket to check for signs of injury on the baby. He found a handphone stuffed under the blanket, and instinctively glanced at the screen. There was a message on the screen, “My darling, if you live through this, please remember that I love you.” Despite having seen death countless times, tears rolled down the doctor’s face. The handphone was passed around, evoking tears from everyone at the scene.
The young mother must have tried calling for help using the handphone, but in disasters of this scale, telecommunications often fail. She spent her last moments leaving a message for her beloved child.
Weeping is NOT all we can do. In fact, many have already begun to take action. See http://www.http://chinaquake.zhan.cn.yahoo.com to learn about the nonprofit organization Chinese Earthquake Fund. This initiative, spearheaded by Shou-Ching Tang, MD, Director of Hematology/Oncology at Denver Health in Denver, CO, has been established to raise funds for medical supplies for West China Hospital in Chengdu. It is located 60 miles from the epicenter and is treating 1200 seariously injured victims, more than half need secondary surgery. You can find out how to donate money at the aforementioned website. Thanks for doing more than weeping for the victims of this devastating earthquake.
[...] Fuwa is a torch, and then something happened to the Olympic torch; One Fuwa is a panda, and then something happened in Sichuan; Now there's still the fish left… [...]