This CHINA quake is insane (hope we never get one that big)

[dungbeetle06]

DUJIANGYAN, China - The toll of the dead and missing soared as rescue workers dug through flattened schools and homes on Tuesday in a desperate attempt to find survivors of China's worst earthquake in three decades.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the death toll exceeded 12,000 in Sichuan province alone, and 18,645 were still buried in debris in the city of Mianyang, near the epicenter of Monday's massive, 7.9-magnitude quake.

The Sichuan Daily newspaper reported on its Web site that more than 26,000 people were injured in Mianyang.

The numbers of casualties was expected to rise due to the remoteness of the areas affected by the quake and difficulty in finding buried victims.

There was little prospect that many survivors would be found under the rubble. Only 58 people were extricated from demolished buildings across the quake area so far, China Seismological Bureau spokesman Zhang Hongwei told Xinhua. In one county, 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed.

Rain was impeding efforts and a group of paratroopers called off a rescue mission to the epicenter due to heavy storms, Xinhua reported.

Panda-watching tourists missing
More than two dozen British and American tourists who were thought to be panda-watching in the area also remained missing.

Officials urged the public not to abandon hope.

"Survivors can hold on for some time. Now it's not time to give up," Wang Zhenyao, disaster relief division director at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told reporters in Beijing.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who rushed to the area to oversee rescue efforts, said a push was on to clear roads and restore electricity as soon as possible. His visit to the disaster scene was prominently featured on state TV, a gesture meant to reassure people that the ruling party was doing all it could.

"We will save the people," Wen said through a bullhorn to survivors as he toured the disaster scene, in footage shown on CCTV. "As long as the people are there, factories can be built into even better ones, and so can the towns and counties."

State media said rescue workers had reached the epicenter in Wenchuan county — where the number of casualties was still unknown. The quake was centered just north of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu in central China, tearing into urban areas and mountain villages.

Earthquake rescue experts in orange jumpsuits extricated bloody survivors on stretchers from demolished buildings.

Some 20,000 soldiers and police arrived in the disaster area with 30,000 more on the way by plane, train, trucks and even on foot, the Defense Ministry told Xinhua.

[Flynbyu]

It's really bad there.

With a dense population, and sub-par old buildings it's a wreck.

~Brian

[dungbeetle06]

IT'S SAD

[Flynbyu]

The cyclone that hit Myanmar is terrible too....That government doesn't have any emergency disaster resources to help their own people.

~Brian

[BRAD]

sad times for them people. i feel for them

[socalrappy700]

I really think our turn is comming.  They keep talking about "the big one" out in cali.  They are way over due for one out there.

[Flynbyu]

I really think our turn is comming.  They keep talking about "the big one" out in cali.  They are way over due for one out there.

Last big one was the 1989 quake during the World Series.

~Brian

[socalrappy700]

I really think our turn is comming.  They keep talking about "the big one" out in cali.  They are way over due for one out there.

Last big one was the 1989 quake during the World Series.

~Brian

And that wasn't a real big one.  I think we are in for a nasty one soon.

[Flynbyu]

I really think our turn is comming.  They keep talking about "the big one" out in cali.  They are way over due for one out there.

Last big one was the 1989 quake during the World Series.

~Brian

And that wasn't a real big one.  I think we are in for a nasty one soon.

Right....

Last "BIG" one was like in the early 1900's.

~Brian

[socalrappy700]

I'm sure will see a 8+ in our lifetime.  Glad I live here now.

[Flynbyu]

I'm sure will see a 8+ in our lifetime.  Glad I live here now.

No doubt.

The New Madrid Fault is just across the state here, and they've been saying another big one will come from that since I was a kid.

~Brian

[socalrappy700]

I'm sure will see a 8+ in our lifetime.  Glad I live here now.

No doubt.

The New Madrid Fault is just across the state here, and they've been saying another big one will come from that since I was a kid.

~Brian

We had a little 4 point a few weeks ago.

[Flynbyu]

That area is not prepared for it either.

~Brian

[socalrappy700]

That area is not prepared for it either.

~Brian

All the new buildings are, but we have a ton of 100+ year old buildings in this city.

[Flynbyu]

Most of our old buildings are all downtown by the river.

~Brian