as I thought…

‘Tis as I thought it would be. Yesterday’s reported toll of four or five, depending on who you asked, is now over 8,700 according to AP (via Yahoo news) and nearly 10,000 according to Xinhua‘s English site. Xinhua’s Chinese site has similar figures, but I’m having a bit more trouble navigating their reporting. Still, it is only half past seven in the morning, a time I previously considered a figment of hyper-active people’s imagination. This article published apparently one second after midnight claims 8533.

It would seem, judging by that AP article, that although downtown areas of big cities got off lightly, outlying areas and smaller towns and cities were hit pretty badly. Some of the pictures coming through, instead of yesterday’s “Oh look, we’re shaking, haha” rubbish, show your classic big quake aftermath- crumpled remains of buildings. And reports are thousands are still trapped, so I would expect the death toll to continue climbing over the next few days.

4 Comments on as I thought…news

About the Author

wangbo

wangbo

A Kiwi teaching English to oil workers in Beijing, studying Chinese in my spare time, married to a beautiful Beijing lass, consuming vast quantities of green tea (usually Xihu Longjing/西湖龙井, if that means anything to you), eating good food (except for when I cook), missing good Kiwi ale, breathing smog, generally living as best I can outside Godzone and having a good time of it.

4 thoughts on “as I thought…”

  1. 8533 is the figure I saw last night on The Guardian. As you say, the damage in outlying areas is more severe, but it’s going to take time before the information gets through.

    We had a slight tremor at about 1.30am and then another, slightly longer, at 4.15am. I’m wondering whether people took shelter in the school grounds because at that time someone started making an announcement on a PA system.

  2. Considering the Army is having to approach Wenchuan on foot because the roads have been cut, and because it hit a mountainous area, it’s going to take quite some time for the full story to get out. I’m expecting the death toll to climb quite a bit higher as information gets out from the more remote or cut off areas and as people trapped in buildings die. Sadly, the rescuers never quite manage to get all of them out in time.

    I would expect you to be getting quite a few aftershocks of noticeable size, but gradually tapering off, over the next week or so. Enjoy the ride.

  3. I’ve heard that (allegedly) we’re in for another quake some time today, but I was told that we were going to get one between 10 and midnight last night, although nothing happened during that time.

    Nor is the weather helping things.

  4. Rumours are rubbish. You’ll be getting aftershocks, for sure, but the rumours are, at best, the products of overly excitable imaginations.

Comments are closed.

You may also like these