Earthquake in China, 12 May 2008

August 6, 2008 (0530 hrs GMT): According to the reports from State Council Information Office, death toll in the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan - China and its neighboring regions stands at 69,207. There are 18,194 people still reported missing and 374,468 were injured in the mishap.

Aftershock of 6.0 kills six in China

May 26, 2008 (0400 hrs GMT): The scourge of earthquake seems not to have let China off from its deadly grips. An aftershock, measuring 6.0 in Richter Scale and considered to be the most intense after the major China earthquake on May 12, hit Sichuan and neighboring Shaanxi province killing 6 and levelling around 71,000 homes that had survived the major China earthquake two weeks ago. The aftershock was capable of swaying office towers in Beijing, the capital city situated 800 miles away. Death toll in the May 12 China earthquake had risen to 62,664. The exorbitant number of missing people - currently at 23,775 - fortify fears that the death toll may rise further, perhaps more than 80,000 as per official reports.

May 19, 2008 (1200 hrs GMT):
Confirmed dead: 34,073
Injured: 245,000
Buried under rubble in Sichuan Province: 9,500
Missing: 29,000

May 15, 2008 (1300 hrs GMT): As the troops remove rubble from the areas devastated in Monday's China Earthquake, death toll increases in thousands. In a recent statement from Chinese officials, more than 50,000 are feared to have died in the calamity. Number of troops deployed for rescue operations at present stand at 80,000.

May 15, 2008 (0400 hrs GMT): Even as the official death toll in the devastating earthquake on Monday rises to 14,866, relief and rescue operations are in full swing in all affected areas in Sichuan and the nearby provinces. With much effort, rescue troops could finally reach the epicentre. However, more than 25,000 people are still trapped under the rubble. Helicopters have been pressed into service and the number of troops involved in rescue operations have increased to 30,000.

May 14, 2008 (0600 hrs GMT): The death toll in the Sichuan Province alone has risen to 12,012, while 323 deaths have been reported in the five surronding provinces and the city area of Chongqing.

May 13, 2008 (0400 hrs GMT): Ten thousand deaths have been confirmed after the earthquake that hit central China yesterday. With the debris surrounding the epicenter yet to be cleared out, authorities suspect an increase in the death count. The most terrible aftermath of the quake, which clocked 7.9 in the Ritcher scale and considered the worst in this country in three decades, was the collapse of a three-storey school building at Juyuan, south of the epicenter, burying more than 900 students.



May 12, 2008 (1200 hrs GMT): Premier Wen Jiabao is flying to Chengdu to assess the situation and hasten the supply of aid. One hundred and seven people, including many students, are reported to have died. It is widely apprehended that the toll will rise again. The death toll is expected to rise, as major damages have been reported from buildings around Sichuan's Wenchuan county, the epicenter of the earthquake.

May 12, 2008 (0930 hrs GMT): An earthquake, measuring up to 7.8 on the Richter Scale, struck Central China on 12.05.08 at 06.28 GMT. It mainly hit the region lying north west of Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province. This is the first major earthquake in China after the earthquake in March that affected wide regions in the Xinjiang Province.

President Hu Jintao has already summoned prompt help towards the regions affected by this major China earthquake. Telephone lines have been jammed in the region, and efforts are being made to restore communication with the region. The government was prompt to evacuate the buildings in Chengdu and Beijing. People have also been guided out of the Jinmao Tower in Sanghai, the tallest building in China.


Two schools collapsed as a result of this earthquake in China, injuring more than a hundred children and killing at least four of them, according to the reports of the CCTV-the state run TV channel. However, there was no major damage caused to the city of Chengdu, which has a population in excess of 10 million. There was no damage incurred on the neighboring Three Gorges Dam either.

Geophysicists have opined that the earthquake was a potentially dangerous one, as it was quite shallow and originated close to densely populated regions. The epicenter of the 13 May earthquake in China lies in the Wenchuan County. It is a sparsely populated region on the west of the Tibetian plateau. There were after-shocks as quakes, two of them quite high on the Richter scale, ran across the country within an hour of the main quake.

Tremors were felt in the capital city of Beijing, as well as in Bangkok in Thailand and Hanoi in Vietnam. Residents of Beijing, which is located about 930 miles from the center of the quake, reported that buildings continuously shook for over two minutes.