2008 China Earthquake Blog

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-24 14:22

CHENGDU — China plans to turn the Tangjiashan “quake lake” into a scenic spot amid efforts to rebuild a county downstream, a local official said on Monday.

Experts were now studying how to develop the lake, which was formed by the May 12 earthquake, in a “comprehensive” and “scientific” way, said Chen Xingchun, secretary general of the Communist Party Committee of Mianyang City in the southwestern Sichuan Province.

“It will be an important part of rebuilding Beichuan county,” he told a press conference in the provincial capital.

The quake triggered massive landslides in Sichuan, blocking the flow of rivers and creating more than 30 unstable quake lakes that threatened millions downstream.

Tangjiashan, the largest of the lakes, had put 1.3 million at risk alone with its 250 million cubic meters of water before the drainage efforts succeeded earlier this month. This operation had forced the evacuation of more than 250,000 residents in Mianyang.

The Sichuan Provincial Department of Water Resources declared last week that 27 of the 34 quake lakes were no longer dangerous.

THREE YEARS TO REBUILD BEICHUAN

The quake left 15,645 people dead, 4,311 missing and 142,000 homeless in mountainous Beichuan, the area where the Qiang ethnic group are populated. About 80 percent of the buildings collapsed in the county, about 100 km east of the epicenter.

“The county was destroyed. We cannot rebuild it at the original site. We have to choose another location,” said Chen, also in charge of the rebuilding.

Prevention of geological disasters, the inheriting of the Qiangculture, supplies of water resources and other factors would be taken into consideration while selecting another county seat, he said.

“The final decision about a new site is yet to be made.”

Chen told reporters local authorities would spend three years building a new Beichuan, which would feature the distinctive Qiang culture, strong industry and tourism.

Beichuan is the only Qiang autonomous county in the country, but the quake almost destroyed its culture completely.

“We must preserve the Qiang culture while rebuilding the county,” Chen said.

The old county seat would also be developed into a scenic spot in future, he said.

ROAD TO SLOW RECOVERY

Currently, all the homeless in Beichuan have been given temporary shelter in tents or prefab homes at 364 resettlement locations, Chen said.

With the support of the eastern Shandong Province, local authorities planned to build 40,000 prefab homes, of which 8,781 had been finished.

Local government also allocated nearly 32 million yuan (4.7 million U.S. dollars) for the quake survivors as relief cash and 3.24 million yuan for relatives of the dead.

“The agricultural and industrial production are now recovering gradually,” Chen said.

Local farmers have planted 187,500 mu (12,500 hectares) of corn, rice and beans and 15,000 mu of vegetable after the quake.

A hydropower station has restarted operation and a concrete factory has started rebuilding.

“We have organized more than 1,200 people to work in Shandong and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,” Chen said.

The 8.0-magnitude quake centered in Wenchuan County had left 69,181 people dead, 374,171 injured, 18,498 missing and millions homeless as of Monday noon.

More than 13,000 aftershocks were reported after the devastating quake, with the strongest measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale.

In terms of the intensity and scope of destruction, the quake surpassed the 7.8-magnitude quake in 1976 in Tangshan, northern Hebei Province. That disaster claimed more than 240,000 lives.

Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/19/content_6779033.htm
Updated: 2008-06-19 19:41

DUJIANGYAN - The Sichuan Branch of the State Development Bank (SDB) signed an agreement Wednesday with the Dujiangyan municipal government to provide a special loan of 700 million yuan (US$101 million) for the revival of the earthquake-hit tourism sector in Dujiangyan.

The money will be used for the reconstruction of the infrastructure damaged in the Mount Qingcheng-Dujiangyan scenic spot, said Wei Wei, president of the SDB Sichuan branch.

Sixty-five cultural relics under State protection and 119 under provincial protection in Sichuan province were severely damaged as a result of the earthquake. According to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Erwang Temple and Mount Qingcheng in Dujiangyan are among the worst hit.

The Erwang Temple, which translates as ‘Temple of Two Kings’, is located in Lidui Park which houses Dujiangyan, the world’s oldest irrigation project still in operation.

The temple was built 2,000 years ago to honour Li Bing, the then governor of Sichuan and his son for their contribution to the construction of Dujiangyan. It collapsed in the quake.

At Mount Qingcheng, the birthplace of Taoism, China’s only indigenous religion, several ancient buildings are in danger of collapsing.

Like the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, which was built around 256 BC, Mount Qingcheng is a world heritage site.

Wednesday also witnessed the opening of a fast track by the SDB Sichuan branch to offer loans to Dujiangyan after the branch signed an agreement with the Dujiangyan municipal government to provide a mid- and long-term loan of 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million) for the reconstruction of high schools in Dujiangyan.

Earlier, the branch provided Dujiangyan with an emergency loan of 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) for earthquake relief and a loan of 450 million yuan (US$65 million) for the reconstruction of damaged houses in the city to shelter 7,000 people, said Dujiangyan mayor Xu Xingguo.

The branch has long supported Dujiangyan’s reconstruction. By the end of last month, it had also pledged loans surpassing 7 billion yuan (US$1 billion) for the construction of the city’s infrastructure, water conservancy and communications, he said.

(Xinhua)Updated: 2008-06-23 17:33

Source:http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/23/content_6787585.htm

DUJIANGYAN, Sichuan — More than 70,000 primary and middle school students resumed classes in temporary schools on Monday in Dujiangyan City, six weeks after the devastating Sichuan earthquake.

The five-star national flag was hoisted at the Wanchuan Middle School as 7,000 students and teachers observed the routine of a Chinese school day.

“The temporary school was built within 17 days to allow classes to resume for the students and teachers from six schools, which were toppled in the massive earthquake,” said Liu Junlin, Communist Party chief of Dujiangyan, who attended the opening ceremony.

Liu said that Wanchuan is the biggest of the 45 temporary schools built after the earthquake, which together could accommodate all the students of the 92 schools in Dujiangyan before the earthquake. The city was among the worst hit areas in the disaster.

The largest temporary school in Dujiangyan has its origin in its name of “Wanchuan”, as the character “Wan” stands for Anhui Province and “Chuan” for the quake-ravaged Sichuan Province.

The 45 temporary schools in Dujiangyan City were built with 110 million yuan ($16 million) in donations from the east China province of Anhui, which also contributed lesson materials.

“We will continue to help with the reconstruction work in Dujiangyan,” said Sun Jinlong, a representative of the city government of Hefei, the provincial capital of Anhui.

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-19 06:41

CHENGDU — A total of 72,000 people in quake-hit Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province, whose lives were threatened by secondary disasters including landslide, have been relocated hours before it started to rain on Wednesday night.

The three-day mass relocation concluded at 8 p.m., said the Aba prefectural work team of disaster prevention, just two hours before a heavy rain hit the county.

Emergency workers have built 2,458 makeshift houses and 34,000 tents for the displaced people.

The Aba prefectural government started the relocation of 110,000residents, including 72,000 in Wenchuan, from highly-dangerous terrain on Sunday.

Wu Zegang, deputy party secretary of Aba, said  the risks of inundation and geological disasters such as landslide will rise in the looming main flood season.

“The top priority of our relief work is to transfer the residents whose lives are menaced by secondary disasters to safer areas,” Wu said.

Aba Prefecture, inhabited mainly by Tibetans and people of the Qiang ethnic group governs 13 counties including Wenchuan, the epicenter of the quake.

The powerful 8.0 magnitude quake struck Sichuan Province with Wenchuan as its epicenter. In Wenchuan alone, 15,941 people were killed, leaving 7,662 missing and 34,583 injured.

The local government and experts have finalized the selection of new site for Beichuan city, which was totally destroyed in the devastating earthquake at May 12, 2008.  Please see this post for a recent witness of the city 4 weeks after earthquake and totally evacuated and closed for sanitary and security reason. The new site is located in a nearby county, An Xian. The place is called Bandengqiao. The small town was almost intact after the earthquake and is expected to provide a safe start for the rebuild of Beichuan. It is also expected that the local administrations will have a major shift since the boundaries of neighboring counties will be redrawn.

There was a debate among the locals and many caring people whether to build at the original site or to find a new location. The debate is indeed still going on. It will be a daunting challenge to the local government of how to persuade those who refuse to relocate, how to balance the often conflict interests from different groups, and how to take care of the ruin of the old city.

In May 12, 2008, there was a devastating earthquake measuring 8 Richter scale jolted Sichuan, China. The hometown of giant panda, Wolong, is only about 40km (25miles) away from the epicenter of the earthquake. The earthquake destroyed the buildings of the reservation center and the road lead to the outside world. More than 100 people in the center are injured, with 30 are in serious condition. Some pandas are also missing or dead.

Fortunately, most pandas in the Wolong reserve are safe and healthy, especially the cubs. The employees of the reservation center put a heroic effort to rescue and transfer the treasures to the safety areas. Please see our earlier post for more photos.

(Pictures from web sources)

Currently, there are two major threats to the giant pandas. First, since the road are destroyed, it’s difficult to obtain enough bamboo for the pandas, who need to be fed for more than 10 hours a day. Sometime the pandas have to settle on congee or formula instead of their favorite bamboo or bamboo shoot.

Second, many buildings and lots of research equipment are destroyed in the earthquake. The living conditions are miserable for the pandas comparing with their earlier days or the peers in the zoos worldwide. It’s difficult for the scientists to monitor the health of the pandas beyond the very basic methods. There are not enough medicines either to treat the injured or sick pandas.

The center is asking for help from the world. Their phone numbers are 13980078116 (Mr. Liu), 13540315978 (Mr. Shen), and 13981606939 (Mr. Ke). Don’t expect to get hold with them with one phone call since the connections are still not stable due to the earthquake.

Attached is the letter from the Wolong Panda Reservation Center asking for help. It’s in Chinese, though.

社会各界及海外朋友:

5月12日14时28分，四川汶川发生了里氏8.0级强烈地震，大熊猫故乡卧龙距汶川地震震中映秀40余公里，地震造成圈养大熊猫系列基础设施严重损坏，两乡镇98%以上的民房倒塌、人员伤亡惨重、5000多藏羌同胞无家可归,通讯和交通全面中断，人民群众断水、断电、断粮、断药，财产损失巨大，人民生活陷于极度困窘之中。

灾情发生后，卧龙人民在上级的领导下，在社会各界的大力支持下，全力以赴开展抗震救灾工作，目前食品、药品、帐篷、棉被等物资已基本到位，但重建家园、学生返校、恢复办公秩序、基础设施建设等需要大量的资金，为此，特向社会各界及海外朋友发出求助：卧龙大熊猫和人民群众需要你们的一份爱心,一份力量,一份支持。我们深信，在抗震救灾的艰巨斗争中，你们的大力支持、无私援助，将进一步增强我们战胜灾害的信心和勇气，卧龙人民一定能够克服困难，渡过阶段性难关，取得抗震救灾的最后胜利！

联系电话：

四川卧龙国家级自然保护区管理局副局长 刘圣礼13980078116

四川卧龙国家级自然保护区管理局副局长 申裕荣13540315978

四川卧龙国家级自然保护区管理局财政局长 柯仲辉 13981606939

国家林业局卧龙自然保护区管理局

二00八年五月

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-23 07:52

MIANYANG, Sichuan - Ten days after the devastating earthquake in southwest China, six days after he returned to Beijing, Premier Wen Jiabao was back on the front lines of quake relief.

He flew to Mianyang in Sichuan Province, one of the worst hit cities, on Thursday afternoon. Upon arrival, he conducted a fly-over inspection by helicopter of a “quake lake,” which is formed by landslides that block rivers.

People would have found him on the same tight schedule early this year as Wen visited the regions hit by the worst winter weather in 50 years four times in nine days.

The Hong Kong-based daily Ta Kung Pao said in a commentary: “Chinese premiers have developed an image of being caring and conscientious since late Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People’s Republic of China.”

When a 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Xingtai, in the northern Hebei Province in 1966, Zhou rushed to the region and oversaw relief work, risking aftershocks, Du Xiuxian, a photographer of Zhou’s era, recalled in his published photographic memoir “The Last Legends.”

Wen has inherited that tradition of Chinese premiership.

Two hours after the quake rocked Wenchuan County in the northwestern mountainous region of Sichuan Province, he was in the air. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

As a large part of the country felt the tremors and experienced great shock, Wen promised the country in front of China Central Television (CCTV) camera that the government would lead the people to win the battle against the earthquake.

“Confronted with the disaster, we need composure, confidence, courage and an effective command,” he said with a sober and steadfast attitude.

During the next four days, Wen set foot in almost all of the worst-hit counties, walking over rocks and tiles, comforting weeping children and encouraging rescuers.

He made it very clear that the top task at the initial stage was to save lives, and he pressed officials and troops very hard to implement rescue work.

Back in Beijing on May 16, Wen did not relax but hosted several key meetings on rescue and relief work.

Observers found that he has presided over at least 13 high-level meetings since the quake.

At these meetings, the topics under discussion ranged from big issues such as the top priorities of the relief task force to tiny details like milk powder for infants.

He stressed prevention of epidemics and handling of victims’ corpses, told an expert team to give scientific and technical support to rescue and relief work, and worked out solutions to homeless survivors’ problems.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

While guidelines were set for relief work, detailed orders were made as well, such as to send 6,000 temporary houses within two days and order rescue teams to reach all remote quake-hit villages within 24 hours.

Rehabilitation was also discussed and a directive was issued to fully consider the geological conditions and bearing capability of the local environment so as to balance cities and rural areas, industry and agriculture.

The focus has shifted from rescue to rehabilitation of quake survivors and their communities, he said Thursday while en route to Sichuan. The latter “will be a harder and long-term task,” he said.

Chinese are captivated by what the premier has done.

Chen Hui, a middle-aged mother in Chongqing Municipality near Sichuan that was also affected by the quake, participated in a text message prayer campaign for Wen.

She sent a text message to her son in Beijing, saying: “The 66-year-old Premier Wen has worked really hard for quake relief. He has comforted and moved us. Pass this on your friends, pray for him.”

Chen received the message from a friend. The campaign, whose organizer is unknown, aims to collect 1 million prayer text messages.

A compilation of scenes of Wen’s visit to Sichuan is popular on-line and Netizens have created a forum called “Premier Wen, we love you.”

“As one of China’s senior leaders, the premier not only manages the government’s daily work but also displays the ruling party’s ideals and principles personally,” Ta Kung Pao said. “A premier of China can not be copied elsewhere.”