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Log inCHINA EARTHQUAKE 4-17-2010
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CHINA EARTHQUAKE 4-17-2010
by Guest Sun Apr 18, 2010 2:52 am
Tibetan monks chanted prayers and lit giant funeral pyres to cremate the bodies of hundreds of victims of last week’s earthquake in western China.
With the official death toll reaching 1,144, and the figure expected to rise sharply with hundreds more still unaccounted for, the crimson-clad monks were forced to abandon their traditional funeral tradition of “sky burials”, in which bodies are left to be devoured by vultures.
“There are not enough vultures for all these bodies,” said a monk at the mass cremation on a mountainside outside Jiegu, the hardest hit town.
Rescue workers continued to pick through the rubble from Wednesday’s 7.1 magnitude quake, on the remote fringes of China’s western Qinghai province, but hopes of finding survivors are fading.
The townspeople are living on the streets, huddled beneath piles of blankets and, for a lucky few, tents. Most homes, largely constructed from wood and mud, have been destroyed. Authorities say 70% of the town’s schools have been flattened, leaving more than 100 children dead.
Tragedy can be found on every street corner. Chengli Dorma, 18, and her sister Liangma, 15, were orphaned by the quake. They watched as a young monk prayed over the body of their mother. The sisters, still wearing their blue and white school uniforms, also lost their father and brother in the disaster.
“We have nobody now,” said Chengli, hugging her sister. A policeman who had helped pull their mother’s body from the wreckage of a collapsed hotel, stood by their side, tears in his eyes, as he appealed to a crowd of onlookers “to do everything you can to look after these girls”.
Their parents had spent the night at the hotel, near the town’s main square, for a business meeting. Scores of staff and guests are still missing, trapped beneath the rubble. It was a scene that was repeated across Yushu county.
There is no electricity, little running water and not enough food. With temperatures on the Tibetan plateau dropping well below zero, conditions are harsh.
The government has stepped up relief efforts. Thousands of soldiers and paramilitary rescue teams, armed with mechanical diggers, movement sensors, heavy cutting equipment and sniffer dogs, have set up camp here. Convoys of army trucks fill the rutted road from Xining, the provincial capital. Military helicopters are bringing in supplies and ferrying out the injured.
They are reported to have pulled out 6,800 survivors alive. One of the most poignant rescues came on Friday, two days after the quake, when a dust-caked Tibetan girl, who looked no older than seven, was pulled from the debris. There were cries of joy as she was rushed to a medical centre in the arms of her rescuer.
Hundreds of monks, carrying spades and pickaxes over their shoulders, came from miles around to help dig out the dead and, when the army allowed them, perform the last rites. Others said they felt compelled to come after hearing about the destruction of Jiegu’s Tranga monastery, in which at least 25 of their fellow monks died.
For many others help came too late. We found Tangke Manse sitting in stunned silence outside the pile of brick and stone that was once his home. “My whole family was at home when the quake struck,” he said. “I managed to escape but everyone else died.” He lost both his children, aged two and one, his wife and his parents. “I’m the only one left now,” he said. “I sleep at the cemetery where my family is buried because I have nowhere else to go.”
Criticism of the military-led rescue is growing. Tsering Pedkar, a 28-year-old English teacher at a Yushu school and a former Reading University student, said the army presence masked an urgent need for basic supplies. “Everyone here is in shock,” she said. “There’s not enough water, food or medical supplies.”
With most of Jiegu’s schools lying in ruins, and the bodies of school children still being pulled from the rubble, criticism of shoddy building work has returned to haunt the Chinese authorities, as it did after the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
“Look around you,” said Tsering. “All the government buildings are standing, but the schools have collapsed. In my school alone we've pulled out 28 bodies and there are more under there.”
Yi Ji, a 16-year-old middle school student, said: “Some of our friends have died and seven of our teachers are missing.”
As the dead were cremated yesterday, watched by hundreds of grieving survivors with the vultures circling overhead, the living remain huddled on the streets.
“We’ve got nothing,” said Feng Zhiting, 20, as she sat with seven friends and family inside an improvised tent of plastic sheets. “This is where we live now. We have to find our own food, and get our own water. Who knows how long we’ll be here?”
With the official death toll reaching 1,144, and the figure expected to rise sharply with hundreds more still unaccounted for, the crimson-clad monks were forced to abandon their traditional funeral tradition of “sky burials”, in which bodies are left to be devoured by vultures.
“There are not enough vultures for all these bodies,” said a monk at the mass cremation on a mountainside outside Jiegu, the hardest hit town.
Rescue workers continued to pick through the rubble from Wednesday’s 7.1 magnitude quake, on the remote fringes of China’s western Qinghai province, but hopes of finding survivors are fading.
The townspeople are living on the streets, huddled beneath piles of blankets and, for a lucky few, tents. Most homes, largely constructed from wood and mud, have been destroyed. Authorities say 70% of the town’s schools have been flattened, leaving more than 100 children dead.
Tragedy can be found on every street corner. Chengli Dorma, 18, and her sister Liangma, 15, were orphaned by the quake. They watched as a young monk prayed over the body of their mother. The sisters, still wearing their blue and white school uniforms, also lost their father and brother in the disaster.
“We have nobody now,” said Chengli, hugging her sister. A policeman who had helped pull their mother’s body from the wreckage of a collapsed hotel, stood by their side, tears in his eyes, as he appealed to a crowd of onlookers “to do everything you can to look after these girls”.
Their parents had spent the night at the hotel, near the town’s main square, for a business meeting. Scores of staff and guests are still missing, trapped beneath the rubble. It was a scene that was repeated across Yushu county.
There is no electricity, little running water and not enough food. With temperatures on the Tibetan plateau dropping well below zero, conditions are harsh.
The government has stepped up relief efforts. Thousands of soldiers and paramilitary rescue teams, armed with mechanical diggers, movement sensors, heavy cutting equipment and sniffer dogs, have set up camp here. Convoys of army trucks fill the rutted road from Xining, the provincial capital. Military helicopters are bringing in supplies and ferrying out the injured.
They are reported to have pulled out 6,800 survivors alive. One of the most poignant rescues came on Friday, two days after the quake, when a dust-caked Tibetan girl, who looked no older than seven, was pulled from the debris. There were cries of joy as she was rushed to a medical centre in the arms of her rescuer.
Hundreds of monks, carrying spades and pickaxes over their shoulders, came from miles around to help dig out the dead and, when the army allowed them, perform the last rites. Others said they felt compelled to come after hearing about the destruction of Jiegu’s Tranga monastery, in which at least 25 of their fellow monks died.
For many others help came too late. We found Tangke Manse sitting in stunned silence outside the pile of brick and stone that was once his home. “My whole family was at home when the quake struck,” he said. “I managed to escape but everyone else died.” He lost both his children, aged two and one, his wife and his parents. “I’m the only one left now,” he said. “I sleep at the cemetery where my family is buried because I have nowhere else to go.”
Criticism of the military-led rescue is growing. Tsering Pedkar, a 28-year-old English teacher at a Yushu school and a former Reading University student, said the army presence masked an urgent need for basic supplies. “Everyone here is in shock,” she said. “There’s not enough water, food or medical supplies.”
With most of Jiegu’s schools lying in ruins, and the bodies of school children still being pulled from the rubble, criticism of shoddy building work has returned to haunt the Chinese authorities, as it did after the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
“Look around you,” said Tsering. “All the government buildings are standing, but the schools have collapsed. In my school alone we've pulled out 28 bodies and there are more under there.”
Yi Ji, a 16-year-old middle school student, said: “Some of our friends have died and seven of our teachers are missing.”
As the dead were cremated yesterday, watched by hundreds of grieving survivors with the vultures circling overhead, the living remain huddled on the streets.
“We’ve got nothing,” said Feng Zhiting, 20, as she sat with seven friends and family inside an improvised tent of plastic sheets. “This is where we live now. We have to find our own food, and get our own water. Who knows how long we’ll be here?”
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Re: CHINA EARTHQUAKE 4-17-2010
by JENN Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:55 pm
THIS IS HORRIBLE. I WAS WATCHING THIS ON THE NEWS DAYS AGO AND I WAS IMPACTED THAT SOO MANY PEOPLE DIED FROM THIS EARTH QUAKE. I FEEL VERY SORRY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LOST SOMEONE OR THAT ARE INJURED. GOD BLESS THEM 
JENN- Royal Member- AMBASSADOR OF PANAMA
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Join date : 2010-02-07 Location : NEW YORK
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