China hit by massive Earthquake

[mangle]

Chinese President Hu Jintao has called for "all-out" efforts to rescue victims of an earthquake measuring 7.8 that has hit south-western China.
The quake struck 92km (57 miles) north-west of Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu, at 1428 (0628 GMT).
China's state-run Xinhua news agency said Premier Wen Jiabao was travelling to the area and troops were being sent to help with disaster relief efforts.
Five people are reported to have died, including four schoolchildren.
The children were killed, and more than 100 others injured, when primary school buildings collapsed in the Chongqing area, a large municipality near Sichuan province, Xinhua added.
Another person is reported to have died when a water tower collapsed in the city of Mianyang, in Santai County.



Chengdu has a population of more than 10 million people but the epicentre is reported to have been in a rural area in Wenchuan County.
State television said the quake had not caused major damage to Chengdu or to the nearby Three Gorges Dam.
But workers were evacuated from swaying buildings in several cities.
Tremors were felt as far afield as Beijing, the Thai capital, Bangkok, and Hanoi in Vietnam.
Workers in Beijing - about 930 miles from Chengdu - said buildings shook for about two minutes.
In the city's financial district, people poured out of buildings, but there were no visible signs of damage.
China's tallest building, the Jinmao Tower in Shanghai, was also evacuated after the earthquake, Reuters news agency said.
'Continuous shaking'
In Chengdu, residents streamed on to the streets.
"We felt continuous shaking for about two or three minutes. All the people in our office are rushing downstairs," an office worker in Chengdu told Reuters.
Telephone lines to the affected areas were jammed and there were reports of cracks in buildings and water pipes.
The area where Monday's earthquake struck lies on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau.
Wenchuan County is home to the Wolong Nature Reserve, China's leading research and breeding base for endangered giant pandas.
Earthquakes are common in China - in March a 7.2 magnitude quake struck in western Xinjiang province.



From BBC.

[YoManGo!]

yahoo says estimated up to 5000 dead :/

[lew!]

end of the world.

[Kardan]

With China having a massive population and it being very crowded, I'd assume they'll be thousands dead.

[Technologic]

Eastern Asia isn't doing too well.

Glad to see this doesn't put burma out of the spotlight though

[-Xiangu-]

sounds awful but considering the chinese are very controlling on the population this could be a blessing in disguise for some families.

[RedStratocas]

christ, 9000 dead. it might rise into the tens of thousands too.

sounds awful but considering the chinese are very controlling on the population this could be a blessing in disguise for some families.

doubt people are really thinking that way though. maybe if there were some sort of plague that caused all these people to be unable to have children, that would be different. but these were living breathing people.

[Joshuae]

Burma, now China.

Up to 12,000 dead predicted.

[Technologic]

To be honest this is the definition of being thoroughly buggared over.

I feel sorry for eastern asia

[Jordy]

With China having a massive population and it being very crowded, I'd assume they'll be thousands dead.

Yeah but that's East China which it is over-populated, this Earthquake was in Western China so the population is a lot more sparsely populated luckily