- Jan 12, 2005
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So I'm visiting my wife in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, China. We have an apartment on the 18th floor of a 32-story apartment building adjacent to Sichuan University. This morning (Saturday) at about 8 AM (local time) I was browsing the internet, trying to find out about the capture of the #2 Boston Bomber, when the entire apartment began moving back and forth. This lasted for about 20 or 30 seconds. My wife and I raced down 18 flights of steps and waited outside, not sure of what would happen. It's pretty frightening being in a tall building when a strong earthquake hits, especially given the Chinese developers' tradition of evading building codes in order to maximize profits. Our building was constructed in 2010, 2 years after the magnitude 7.9 Sichuan earthquake hit, which killed at least 90,000 (some locals insist the true figure exceeds 200,000). So - in theory - it should be pretty earthquake-resistant. But there we were - my wife in her pajamas, me in bare feet - standing on a Chengdu street corner, peering at the tall buildings all around us - waiting for . . . well, what DOES one wait for after an earthquake? An "all clear" issued by planet Earth?
It turns our there was a magnitude 6.6-to-7.0 (various sources) earthquake centered in the city of Ya'an, about 70 miles away. The latest totals in Ya'an are 160 confirmed dead and more than 5500 injured, but those totals will certainly continue increase as crews continue to search through the rubble of collapsed buildings. The effects on Chengdu are mostly superficial - fallen building tiles, for example. But that's right now. Worse might be coming . . . .
The Boston Bombings were a significant blow to the American psyche, with 3 dead and over 170 injured. But by any objective measure, the devastation in Ya'an is much worse. Yes, that's comparing a terrorist act to a natural disaster. But I've been following both events, and the deaths and injuries are every bit as terrible. And the fear and uncertainty that an even bigger earthquake will hit and perhaps collapse our apartment building, with us inside of it, makes this a lot more real.
It turns our there was a magnitude 6.6-to-7.0 (various sources) earthquake centered in the city of Ya'an, about 70 miles away. The latest totals in Ya'an are 160 confirmed dead and more than 5500 injured, but those totals will certainly continue increase as crews continue to search through the rubble of collapsed buildings. The effects on Chengdu are mostly superficial - fallen building tiles, for example. But that's right now. Worse might be coming . . . .
The Boston Bombings were a significant blow to the American psyche, with 3 dead and over 170 injured. But by any objective measure, the devastation in Ya'an is much worse. Yes, that's comparing a terrorist act to a natural disaster. But I've been following both events, and the deaths and injuries are every bit as terrible. And the fear and uncertainty that an even bigger earthquake will hit and perhaps collapse our apartment building, with us inside of it, makes this a lot more real.
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