A big aftershock rattled southwest China yesterday, killing at least one person and injuring 400, state media reported, nearly a fortnight after a big quake killed tens of thousands in the same area.
More than 70,000 houses were toppled during yesterday’s tremor in Sichuan Province, state TV reported. The 5.8 magnitude aftershock was epicentered 40km west-northwest of Guangyuan, the US Geological Survey said.
At the same time hundreds of troops carrying explosives were trekking through the area, attempting to reach a “quake lake” that threatened a secondary disaster.
PHOTO: AFP
Concerned by a rise in the water level of a giant lake at Tangjiashan, authorities have been seeking to blast a hole in the barrier before it bursts and causes a flashflood. Thousands have been evacuated below the lake as a precaution.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), who believes the overall death toll from the main quake could exceed 80,000, has said the main concerns are now secondary disasters like flooding and landslides, epidemics and providing shelter for the millions of displaced.
State TV earlier reported that an 80-year-old partially paralyzed man was the longest known survivor to date. He was pulled alive from the rubble on Friday, 266 hours after the 7.9 magnitude quake hit.
The man was rescued in Mianzhu City, where he had been trapped under a collapsed pillar of his house. He had survived after being fed by his wife, the TV report said.
The biggest concern among the dozens of quake lakes is the one at Tangjiashan, which rose 1.93m yesterday to 723m, Xinhua said.
“The relief work for Tangjiashan quake lake is now at critical stage,” Vice Minister of Water Resource E Jingping (鄂竟平) told a news conference in Beijing.
“The daunting difficulty in treating a quake lake is its unpredictability — its formation and when it could burst,” he said.
But a military expert near the wrecked town of Beichuan said the lake did not pose an immediate threat.
“This is a precautionary step in case there is rain over the coming days. The dam is far from overflowing yet, but we need to release water in case the predicted rains come,” said the People’s Liberation Army officer, surnamed Liu.
Forecasts of rain added to worries yesterday about relief efforts to house the millions of people left homeless by the earthquake.
The government warned that heavy rain was on the way, possibly hampering work to get temporary shelters up to house the estimated 5 million who lost their homes in Sichuan Province.
The State Meteorological Bureau said yesterday that parts of Sichuan would suffer “heavy and even in some areas torrential rains” later yesterday and today.
The bureau warned of “possible mudslides” caused by the heavy rain.
Rescuers were also trying to reach 24 coal miners who officials said were trapped in three mines by the disaster, though they didn’t know if the miners were alive.
Xinhua news agency said that China’s customs office had streamlined entry procedures for relief materials and rescue personnel. It said that on Saturday 47 batches of overseas relief materials, including tents and medicine had arrived in quake-hit areas. Aid is being sent by large and small countries.
Also See: Games organizers shorten torch’s trip through Tibet
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS