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Fifty thousand die in China earthquake |
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A devastating cyclone in Myanmar has been followed by a devastating earthquake in China’s Sichuan province leaving thousands of people dead. Three days after the earthquake struck on May 12, the Chinese authorities have finally conceded that 50,000 people may have died in the quake hit-Sichuan province in south-west of the country. China had initially said 12,000 were killed when a powerful 7.8 magnitude quake struck in the afternoon on May 12. The number of people injured in the mishap has been put at 1,02,000. Government officials did not give details about recovery of bodies. But, it is now apparent that rescue workers are giving up hope of the survival of a large number of people who are either missing or trapped under debris of fallen buildings. Official figures said on May 15, 14,000 people were missing and another 36,000 were trapped in the rubble. Officials painted the grim picture as they warned of serious aftershocks and “secondary disasters” that are likely to follow. Amid the gloom of many people buried under debris, beyond all help, there were moving accounts of children, women and the elderly bring rescued. Even rare giant pandas have survived in reserves. In cities like Chengdu, people experiencing aftershocks showed presence of mind by moving to the safety of open spaces such as parks and streets. But, helpless citizens in places like Dujiangyan and Yingxu bore the brunt of the quake. The calamity brings back memories of the much deadlier earthquake of July 1976 in Tangshan which also had an identical Richter reading. That quake flattened most of the city buildings and it took the region a long time to recover.
President Hu Jintao who went around some quake affected areas asked people to be confident in overcoming the hardships.
China has said it is ready to accept international aid in the form of money and material for victims of the earthquake. But, it said the time was not fit to allow relief teams from foreign countries. Washington has announced plans to contribute $500,000 to help the quake relief efforts. India will fly two planeloads of relief supplies worth over five million dollars to China. Other countries have also committed relief aid.
Natural calamities on the scale of Myanmar cyclone or Chinese earthquake or the Asian tsunami are not frequent, with the frequency lulling the public as well as the establishment into inaction between such events. It is here that governments must play an active role and make safety a public priority, observers say.
The earthquake in the Sichuan province was a result of continuing collision between India and Asia. India, once a giant island before crashing into the underside of Asia about 40 million to 50 million years ago, continues to slide north at a geologically quick pace of two inches a year. The tectonic stresses push up the Himalayan mountains and generate scores of earthquakes from Afghanistan to China. In the eastern part of the region where Asia and India collide, the Tibetan plateau is pushing south-east against the flat Sichuan basin.
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