http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/13/china.quake/index.html JIANGYOU, China (CNN) -- The death toll from Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake in central China exceeded 12,000 Tuesday, as rescue workers frantically tried to pull victims from the rubble and clear roads so relief can be delivered. A quake survivor waits at a hospital in Chengdu, in China's Sichuan province, on Tuesday. Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan, said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon the death toll was based on incomplete figures tallied by 4 p.m. He said another 26,206 people were injured and as many as 3.5 million homes were destroyed. Xinhua also reported more than 18,645 people were buried under rubble in the city of Mianyang alone. At least 3,629 people are reported dead in the city, which neighbors the epicenter of the earthquake. A string of nearly 30 seismic jolts hit the province in the first 24 hours following Monday's quake and slowed the progress of rescue teams. All of those quakes were magnitude 4.0 and above. Watch workers dig out the body of a small child from a collapsed school » A Chinese Civil Affairs Ministry official said his country welcomed foreign donations of money and materials, but it was not ready for outside teams of rescue and relief workers because its transportation system could not handle the additional traffic. The Chinese government on Tuesday accepted an American offer of $500,000 in relief aid, according to an official with the U.S. Agency for International Development. However, China has not asked for other disaster assistance. Roads blocked by rocks and mudslides had hampered the effort to reach the epicenter in Wenchuan County, forcing military doctors and soldiers to walk to reach the area, Xinhua said. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao ordered the military to make it a priority to open the roads into Wenchuan County, home to about 100,000 people, by midday Tuesday. He arrived in the earthquake zone Monday to personally direct the relief efforts. Several thousand additional soldiers were expected to reach the area later Tuesday afternoon, Xinhua said. Heavy rains forced the military to cancel plans to drop Chinese People's Liberation Army paratroopers into the Wenchuan area, Xinhua said. Bad weather also grounded all helicopter relief efforts, the military said. CNN's John Vause saw block after block of devastation in the town of Jiangyou, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the epicenter, arriving there about a day after the quake hit. Watch how quake brought misery to China » "These people who live in the city are now hunkering down under tarpaulins and under tents," Vause said, as a steady drizzle added to the misery. "Many are afraid to go back indoors because their buildings are no longer safe." Communication with survivors near the epicenter has been difficult because of broken telecommunication lines and poor weather. An official using a satellite phone did give an initial report that about a third of all buildings had collapsed and another third were seriously damaged, Xinhua said. Watch quake victim pulled out of rubble » In Guixi Township -- 22 miles (35 kilometers) from the epicenter -- thousands of residents huddled under makeshift tents and tarps, their only shelter from a steady rain Tuesday. Row after row of houses collapsed during the earthquake, leaving people with no place to go and many injured and hungry people wandered the streets. The roads to the town were open, but still no relief workers were around. An expert told CNN the earthquake, which struck at 2:28 p.m. Monday, was the largest the region has seen "for over a generation." Also in the area, all 86 animals at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center were safe, Xinhua reported. The center is one of the biggest Panda refuges in the world. Some 20,000 Chinese troops have been deployed to the region, while another 24,000 are scheduled to be flown to affected areas, Xinhua reported. Another 3,000 police officers have been activated. "It looks like they've mounted a pretty monumental effort to do the best that they can there," said Kate Janie, director of Mercy Corps, a humanitarian group channeling disaster aid to the region through a partner agency. "I think the Chinese government will make very active, proactive, transparent steps in dealing with this." Grief is spreading as the scope of the disaster is realized. » Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport reopened Tuesday after authorities inspected its runways for damage following the quake, Xinhua reported. The resumption of air service gives the province additional links for funneling supplies into the badly battered region. Monday's quake shook the ground in Beijing, 950 miles (1,500 kilometers) away. Residents of the capital, which hosts this year's Olympic Games in August, said they felt a rolling sensation that lasted about a minute. It resulted in the evacuation of thousands of people from Beijing buildings. A spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Committee said no Olympic venues were affected.
You can roughly predict when and where cyclones are coming, you can't for earthquakes. Nowhere to run from earthquakes either.
Now is not the time to compare which country got more attention. I encourage you to start a thread about Burma if you have the information to share. Now is the time to moan and to do what we can to help, not to stirring up dispute and get upset at who got more attention than who. What you are doing is as stupid as the fools (MacFu?) who argue if we should tell the other people whether we have make donation or not in the other thread.
HE SAID: Clutch, please lock this thread. I didn't see there is an one already in BBS Hangout. Sorry!
