China Earthquake Aftershock Leaves Dozens More Injured

AP reports on the powerful aftershock that rocked China:

One of the most powerful aftershocks to hit quake-ravaged central China killed one person, left dozens more injured and leveled homes Sunday, as soldiers carrying explosives hiked to a blocked-off river to alleviate the threat of floods.

Some 260 people were injured in the aftershock Sunday afternoon, the government-run China News Service said, with 24 in serious condition. The agency said many homes had collapsed and roads were damaged, but gave no specific figures.

The magnitude 5.8 aftershock was among the most powerful recorded since the initial May 12 quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The China National Seismic Network, which uses a different measurement system, said the aftershock was the strongest of dozens. The aftershock caused office towers to sway in Beijing, 800 miles away.

In what is nothing short of a miracle, an 80-year-old man has been rescued after being trapped under rubble from China's devastating earthquake for 11 days:

But 11 days after the devastating earthquake that demolished many of the buildings in China's Sichuan province, just when the idea of finding any further survivors had slipped beyond public imagination, an 80-year old man was reclaimed from the rubble of his home - unhurt and alive.

For 266 long and terrible hours since the May 12 earthquake, Xiao Zhihu had lain in the ruins of his house, pinned to the ground beneath a heavy pillar.

Even if the collapsed remnants of his room had allowed him to move, he might not have got far: partially paralysed from before the quake, the old man was one of the more unlikely survivors of the deadly tremors which the Chinese government now says killed 60,500 people.

Comments

[shanghaislim]

Cheers and Thanks to the 95% of the people that come to these threads and offer their prayers to us in China, but it is the 5% who spew their bile and hatred of China that then forces responses from us.

It only serves to take the attention away from the tragedy. That is what they want. Do not let them succeed and close these threads or censure their posts.

[shanghaislim]

Please Please Please......

Huffington Post. Close these China threads to comments!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!

Many of us have been begging you. They attract people like "Freeman" and "Bodhitava" and other insensitive jerks.

Many other threads involving tragedy and loss of life are always closed. Why no these?

You guys even close all the Bill O'Reilly threads so the jerks don't post too offensive material.

Please??????????

[loki]

I have friends in China, some in that area luckily not close enough to have been hit hard by the earthquake. What I am wondering is why havent all of our fantastic disaster search and rescue dogs been sent over. Japan has sent some of theirs, but I know we have some of the best trained animals who can find lives under large piles of rubble, but we have not sent any??? We sent them to the earthquakes in Mexico and other places in the world. Why not to China? It might have helped find people before they died.

[loki]

This is just horrible. I feel very sorry for all those people who lost their lives, and the families and love ones they left behind. Just thinking about this and how it could happen in many places in the US alone sends shivers up and down ones spine. There are major known fault zones all over the world, and many more we dont know of too.

[heal57]

Thank God for this gentleman's rescue. WE are all connected. Let's pray and/or donate to these people. You're confusing the common people with their government; you know, like foreigners do here in the USA.

[Trueheart]

I wonder what we will do when this happens to San Francisco and Los Angeles?
Will we blame God or the Human Race or Mother Nature, or will we just be too busy tending to the living, the wounded and the dead?

[Blutus]

updated 8:42 a.m. MT, Fri., May. 16, 2008
The following aid agencies are accepting contributions to help those affected by the earthquake in China. The list is from InterAction, a coalition of aid agencies, which can be contacted at InterAction at [phone] or http://www.interaction.org.

Several InterAction members have been working in hard-hit Sichuan and nearby provinces on long-term projects, and mobilized to assist survivors. Other InterAction members are responding to local needs through partners on the ground distributing supplies such as food, clean water, medicine, shelter materials and blankets.




Provided by those corporate greed messengers at MSNBC.

Force feed that......­..........­..........­..........­.

[peacekitten]

thanks for the info. i hope those organizations are successful.

what is a shame is that what our own military had always done best, namely humanitarian missions taking food, clothing, medical supplies, doctors, nurses, engineers, and all manner of trained personnel into an area to help those in need, it can no longer do. our soldiers are too exhausted, our equipment too broken, to be able to help these people, and our own government has been conspicuously absent from the headlines in offering assistance to the Chinese people.

instead it must be left to NGOs, who have to scramble to marshal the resources necessary to do even a fraction of what our military had always been welcomed for, doing peaceful missions the soldiers could get a real sense of accomplishment out of.

god help them, and god help the chinese people. they're going to need it.

[BonkingSheep]

Godspeed to those 1600 brave soldiers and police men! The company I work for is matching donations for all workers who contribute to China's quake relief. Won't be covered by MSM as this doesn't fit the corporate greed message we have been force fed.