Earthquake in Sichuan(2013)/Guo Meimei 2015

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

 

 

China earthquake: 'Hundreds dead or injured' in Sichuan

Hundreds of people may have been killed or injured after an earthquake in China's western Sichuan province, state media report.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake, which had a 6.6 magnitude, was centred 80km (50 miles) west of the town of Linqiong.

It said the tremor occurred at a depth of 12.3km (7.6 miles).

The area is prone to tremors. An 8.0 magnitude quake in Sichuan in May 2008 killed nearly 90,000 people.

The latest quake - initially reported as a 7.0 magnitude, and then at 6.9 - struck at 08:02 local time (01:02 BST), the USGS said.

It was felt 115km (71 miles) away in the provincial capital, Chengdu, according to China's state news agency Xinhua.

It said only 10 people had been confirmed dead, but other state media suggested the toll could be far higher.

"The earthquake in Ya'an, Lushan, has injured or killed hundreds of people," the Sichuan earthquake bureau said, quoted by an official website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22228225

 

 

[dan1984]

This morning here in Beijing we got a call from my lady's mom just after 8 in the morning. She is from XiChang, right there in Sichuan not far from where the epicenter of the quake occurred.

 

Her mom was out walking the dog around Lake Qiong, which is actually really big. The dog was running towards a dead fish, when her mom saw this she yelled at Xiao Bu Dian to stop, and just as she yelled, all of a sudden the quake hit, and it was "scary movement." The cell phones weren't working for a few minutes, but then her mom was finally able to call back to the house and check in on her mom (my lady's grandma). The grandma has a bad leg, and really hasn't been up and walking around hardly at all. But when the shacking started, this 83 (I think 83) year old woman with a mind still ever so sharp was quick as a cat and the first one to rush down to the bottom of their apartment complex.

 

Thankfully there appears to be no damage there in XiChang. I haven't had a chance to look at any news today yet, with Candle being one of my first stops on my daily internet To Do List, but all I can hope is that the rest of Sichuan was spared from any major damage.

[dan1984]

Qiong Hai (Lake Qiong) in XiChang. Really beautiful.

 

http://www.google.com.hk/search?q=xichang%20qiong%20hai&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=zh-CN&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=xkNyUYGoHorUkQXU-IC4Cw&biw=1280&bih=636&sei=y0NyUbqMKsOzkAXh7IDQBw

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

This morning here in Beijing we got a call from my lady's mom just after 8 in the morning. She is from XiChang, right there in Sichuan not far from where the epicenter of the quake occurred.

 

Her mom was out walking the dog around Lake Qiong, which is actually really big. The dog was running towards a dead fish, when her mom saw this she yelled at Xiao Bu Dian to stop, and just as she yelled, all of a sudden the quake hit, and it was "scary movement." The cell phones weren't working for a few minutes, but then her mom was finally able to call back to the house and check in on her mom (my lady's grandma). The grandma has a bad leg, and really hasn't been up and walking around hardly at all. But when the shacking started, this 83 (I think 83) year old woman with a mind still ever so sharp was quick as a cat and the first one to rush down to the bottom of their apartment complex.

 

Thankfully there appears to be no damage there in XiChang. I haven't had a chance to look at any news today yet, with Candle being one of my first stops on my daily internet To Do List, but all I can hope is that the rest of Sichuan was spared from any major damage.

 

 

I spoke with a friend in the area who said it was very scary. China always tries to hide these things. Download the movie: "Ai Weiwei, Never Sorry, 2012." He was on a mission to post all of the thousands of names of school children who were killed in the last quake of 2008. Powerful documentary. Highly recommend.

 

 

 

(AP) - A Communist Party official says that earthquake that hit China's Sichuan provinces left at least 32 people dead and injured more than 600.

Xu Mengjia, party secretary of Ya'an city, which administers the area where the quake hit, told China Central Television on Saturday that the casualty count could climb higher.

The quake, which struck shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday, was measured at magnitude-7 by China's seismological bureau and at 6.6 by the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck near the area where a devastating quake left 90,000 dead or missing and presumed dead five years ago.

[Randy W]

At 4:12AM CDT - Global Times:

102 people have been confirmed dead in the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan Province, according to CCTV.

[Randy W]

Some pictures and news from the quake from Xinhua

 

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/special/earthquake20130420/index.htm

 

 

Damaged houses seen in Lushan County, Sichuan

 

 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-04/21/132327651_141n.jpg

[Randy W]

Red Cross has apparently fallen out of favor

 

Cash donations flood in on Weibo

 

"The purpose of each micro-charity project is clear and highly targeted, and the project timelines track how the funds are utilized," Wang said. "This reassures people and makes them want to donate."

Deng said that charity funds prefer micro-charities to other traditional means because charity projects spend less on promotions online than on TV or in newspapers. The platform also eliminates the inconvenience for donors of traveling to a bank and waiting in line to write a check.

 

 

. . . and this

 

Volunteers urged to stay away from quake zone

[Randy W]

The Red Cross is still reacting to the Faux GuaGua (whatever her name was) scandal

Red Cross to be open, transparent

[dan1984]

Red Cross has apparently fallen out of favor

 

Cash donations flood in on Weibo

 

"The purpose of each micro-charity project is clear and highly targeted, and the project timelines track how the funds are utilized," Wang said. "This reassures people and makes them want to donate."

 

Deng said that charity funds prefer micro-charities to other traditional means because charity projects spend less on promotions online than on TV or in newspapers. The platform also eliminates the inconvenience for donors of traveling to a bank and waiting in line to write a check.

 

 

. . . and this

 

Volunteers urged to stay away from quake zone

 

You can thank Guo Meimei for that!

[Randy W]

 

Red Cross has apparently fallen out of favor

 

Cash donations flood in on Weibo

 

"The purpose of each micro-charity project is clear and highly targeted, and the project timelines track how the funds are utilized," Wang said. "This reassures people and makes them want to donate."

 

Deng said that charity funds prefer micro-charities to other traditional means because charity projects spend less on promotions online than on TV or in newspapers. The platform also eliminates the inconvenience for donors of traveling to a bank and waiting in line to write a check.

 

 

. . . and this

 

Volunteers urged to stay away from quake zone

 

You can thank Guo Meimei for that!

 

 

 

An update on her just yesterday

 

http://shanghaiist.com/upload/2015/09/guo-meimei-jail.jpg

 

China's Internet celebrity Guo Meimei jailed for running a casino

Guo hit the headlines in 2011 after posting photos online showing her in a Maserati sports car and carrying expensive handbags.

 

At the time, she said she was general manager of an organization under the Red Cross Society of China, a state-backed charity. The charity denied any link to her.

 

Guo's extravagant lifestyle caused outrage and raised concern about mismanagement of charity funds, leading to a plunge in donations, according to media reports at the time.

 

Guo was arrested in August 2014 and accused of running a casino. She was prosecuted in May.