Word: sichuan
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...from the powerful quake, which rocked skyscrapers in cities as far away as Bangkok and Taipei, was vast. Two days after the first shock, the official death toll had risen to almost 15,000 - and was certain to soar. Whatever the final toll, the Wenchuan earthquake, named for the Sichuan county at the epicenter, will likely be China's worst natural disaster since a quake erupted under the northeastern town of Tangshan in 1976, killing an estimated...
...Tangshan disaster. The Wenchuan quake is being discussed in similar terms in Chinese Internet forums, restaurants and tea shops, often generating an inchoate anxiety about possible cataclysms to come or punishment for past wrongs. Some commentators find significance in the fact that the quake hit just where the vast Sichuan plain meets the foothills of the Himalayas, the geographical and ethnic boundary separating China from Tibet - where Chinese troops put down bloody protests against Beijing's rule in March, sparking global protests that sullied China's image as it prepared to host the Olympic Games in August. Others gloomily point...
...disaster. The following morning he called out again, this time saying, "I don't think I can hold out much longer." When night fell in Dujiangyan, a loudspeaker truck cruised the streets broadcasting the same message: "Please stay calm. The State Council, the Central Committee, and the Sichuan, Chengdu and Dujiangyan governments are trying their best to help. Earthquakes are not something that mankind can avoid." Sadly not. But bungled relief operations are, and Beijing is pulling out all the stops to ensure that this time it doesn't repeat past mistakes...
...what's Plan B? Some hope that China, whose investment in Burma helps prop up the junta, could pressure the generals to allow in more aid. (After an earthquake struck the central Chinese province of Sichuan on May 12, killing and injuring tens of thousands, China sent out relief teams immediately and said it would accept foreign aid.) But even if China is willing to speak out, it's hard to know just how much influence it would have on Burma's top brass. The extent of the regime's disconnect with reality struck me as I drove the broad...
That awful realization awaits hundreds of thousands of Chinese as time inexorably runs out for those trapped under the rubble of the 7.9-magnitude quake that rocked the densely populated Sichuan province. Two days after the first shock, the official death toll had risen to 15,000--and was certain to soar, making it the country's worst disaster since a 1976 quake in the northeastern town of Tangshan killed at least...