Deadly earthquake Sichuan (Ya'an), China - Death toll now at 196 (21 missing) + April 26 update

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Read also : Understanding the Lushan, Ya’an Sichuan, China earthquake
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Update 08:51 UTC, April 26 :
Monitoring and prevention efforts will be stepped up as secondary geological events overlapping with the flood season present a tremendous challenge for disaster relief operations in Sichuan province's quake-hit areas, said a senior official of the provincial government on Thursday. Probe teams have discovered more than 1,900 high-risk spots in Lushan and Baoxing counties, Zhong Mian, executive deputy governor of Sichuan province, said at a news conference in Beijing. The two counties in Ya'an were the areas most affected by the magnitude-7 earthquake on April 20. "Ya'an is a place with abundant rainfall and heavy rain is very common during the flood season. Strong rain in the earthquake zone will easily trigger devastating geological disasters," Zhong said.
He said the weather has caused landslides along the major route for transporting disaster relief materials, which has made relief work difficult. Read more in this China Daily in-depth article.
ER remark : On request of the Prime Minister and the government, the relief operations are also investing a lot of energy to avoid secondary triggered events like landslides. The attention that this topic gets so short after the earthquake is a great step forward in earthquake response and should be an example for other countries.

Update 15:24 UTC, April 25 :
A 78-year-old man was rescued on Wednesday afternoon in Baoxing county, five days after an earthquake hit the area, according to the municipal government on Thursday. The man is the first survivor saved after the "golden rescue time," or the immediate 72 hours after the quake. He was found on a hill top at Muping Township of Baoxing County by the Beijing-based Lantian rescue team at about 1 pm Wednesday, and was sent to Baoxing People's Hospital by helicopter. The man suffered a rib fracture but is in stable condition.

Update 08:05 UTC, April 25 :
- Water safety remains a problem rescuers said on Wednesday. The specialized services sampled 15 sites from mountain springs, rivers, wells and water treatment plants in six villages in Longmen township, Lushan county. Analyzed in a laboratory set up in a tent, the water was found to be slightly turbid, organically contaminated and unsuitable for drinking. It can be used for washing clothes and showering. Villagers are informed not to drink water directly from mountain springs, rivers or wells. Villagers are thaught to use simple water treatment measures. Putting two potable water purification tablets in 15 liters of water and boiling it makes it safe to drink.
- School Classes are expected to fully resume on Saturday in the quake-hit region, according to the provincial educational department. Students prepare for important exams in improvised schoolrooms. Students elsewhere in the quake zone resumed classes on Tuesday. Priority is being placed on those facing college or high school entrance exams.
- China's State Council urged more efforts to minimize casualties and resettle affected residents. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presided over the cabinet meeting and led the leaders to pay a silent tribute to quake victims. The rescue cannot be given up although the "golden rescue time," or the first 72 hours after the quake, is over. Rescuers should continue their all-out efforts in a scientific way, checking every corner to search for survivors, said a statement issued after the meeting.

Update 07:55 UTC, April 25 :
- The M4.5 @ 19 km depth earthquake early Thursday in Sichuan was not an aftershock but a new earthquake to the south of Chengdu. During that new earthquake we have counted 47 injuries, 24 collapsed houses and 4000 houses damaged

Image copyright and courtesy bjnews.com

Update 09:25 UTC, April 24 :
- The fatality and missing statistics have been updated again. Now 196 people killed and 21 still missing. The numbers are only varying slightly. Double counting is almost absent during this earthquake, another major improvement.

Summary 08:25 UTC, April 24 : The Sichuan Ya'an earthquake by numbers:-
- The current death toll is at 193, with the missing reduced to 23. (216 people)
- The injured total is 15,554. Of these, 9467 people were outpatients, and 6087 required some form of operation/medical attention or hospitalisation.
- Many roads have been damaged due to landslides.
- 233,191 people have been relocated.
- 1,992,894 people were affected.
- 4085 aftershocks have occurred, with 4 of them being over Magnitude 5, and 21 of them over M4.
- In rural housing, 72400 rooms have collapsed (around 20,000 houses), and 295600 rooms (around 80,000 houses) have severe damage.
- In urban housing, 67100 rooms have collapsed (around 9,500 buildings), and 71800 rooms have been severely damaged (around 10,000 buildings).
(by comparison, the Sichuan earthquake had around 5,360,000 rooms collapsed and around 21,000,000 rooms damaged.
- This earthquake is around 3-4% of the economic loss extent of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. By comparison, the fatalities are about 0.25% of those from the much larger 2008 event.
- Models of direct loss from this event based on damage are coming out to between 4.1 billion (low, CATDAT) and 6.8 billion USD (high, Ampeng Group).
- The losses reported so far are totalling to around 10 billion CNY or 1.5 billion USD but this is expected to increase.

Earthquake damage estimate

Along with the 193 dead and 25 missing, the economic losses are predicted to be around 4.46 billion CNY in Ya'an alone. According to the Ampang Group - a Chinese group, the total losses could total 42.26 billion CNY (around 6.8 billion USD) if the functions from Sichuan are used. We will have to wait and see if the actual losses meet this figure.

Update 12:33 UTC, April 23 :
- The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Lushan, Sichuan Province, on Saturday left 193 dead, 25 missing and 12,211 injured as of 6 a.m. Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced.
- European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Tuesday sent condolences to China over the earthquake. "On the eve of my visit to Beijing, the news of the earthquake in Sichuan Province has profoundly moved me. I send my condolences to the families of those affected," said Ashton in a statement.
- Giant panda habitats near the epicenter of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake have suffered only minor effects , the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said on Tuesday. Aerial remote sensing images showed that the scale of landslides triggered by the quake in the giant pandas' base located in badly hit Baoxing County, Ya'an City, has not been that large so far, said the CAS.
- Rain began falling Tuesday morning in southwest China's Lushan County, hampering relief work and posing new threats such as rain-triggered landslides. In the village of Yuxi in Baosheng Township, hundreds of residents have moved from the tents they built to water-resistant ones.
- Medical workers take care of a newborn boy in a tent functioned as temporary hospital in quake-hit Taiping Township of Lushan County. Both mother and baby were fine. The boy's mother Yang Yan, a 20-year-old woman and father arrived at the hospital in the early morning on Tuesday, after taking a long journey for over three hours from their home in Xingmin Village of the Taiping Township.

Text and image courtesy and copyright Xinhua China

Update 22:14 UTC, Monday 22nd April :
- Just at the time that we wrote this update and wanted to mention that the strong aftershocks were almost over, the strongest aftershock in 24 hours struck (early morning local time). The strength was limited to M4.5 at 19 km following the China seismological bureau. Other agencies in the world have reported higher values but we do trust the skills of the Chinese seismologists. Let's hope that the combination of this aftershock with the rain did not provoke landslides and has not made any more damage or injuries.
- The tea industry, one of the pillars of the local economy in Ya'an city was seriously affected by the disaster, farmers and companies said. Ya'an produced about 66,000 metric tons of tea last year. But as farmers were preparing this year's new spring tea, the city was hit by the quake. "On top of losses from a drought a few months ago, we expect much less production this year," said a local official
- Zhang Yichuan is a nurse in Lushan county. Just likes other medical staff, she was busy with rescuing people injured in the earthquake in SW China, but no one knew her mother just died in the quake. After learning the bad news and surrounded by tears and sadness, she still decided to return to work. She lost her mother, but didn't want others to lose theirs. "There are more people who need my help", she said.

Update 14:09 UTC, Monday 22nd April :
New report from the Chinese government : 192 are being confirmed dead and the number of injured has increased to 12,211 injured.
As the roads to Boaxing county have mostly been cleared from initial rubble, a lot of injured from Boaxing are currently being transported to the neighboring county hospitals.
- Rain is currently pouring out of the sky. This can seriously hamper the last couple of hours of the Golden time (time of 72 hours after the mainshock which enables rescuers to get people alive from below the rubble). Additionally, due to the aftershocks in combination with a mountainous landscape, the chance on landslide will increase considerably.

Update 13:41 UTC, Monday 22nd April :
A total of 198 rescuers from Russia will arrive at an airport in southwest China's Sichuan Province around noon on Monday and rush to the quake-hit Ya'an City, according to the provincial seismological bureau. The headquarters of the China Earthquake Administration has advised the Russian rescuers to go the worst-hit Baoxing County.
- Many governments from all over the world have offered condolences to the Chinese people for their hard suffering.
- Army helicopters have operated the first airdrop operations to deliver food and water for thousands of homeless survivors. Loaded with bottled water, instant noodles and other food, an Air Force helicopter took off from Qionglai Airport to Baosheng township. The Air Force has also deployed a second helicopter to drop food and water to Baosheng.
- 2360 aftershocks have been recorded by seismologists since the mainshock. Only a small percentage has been felt by the people. ER has the impression that the frequency of the moderate to strong aftershocks has been seriously dropped today. No guarantee however that it will be over.
- 1.5 million people have been affected by this earthquake in various ways
- Good news from Baoxing county where communications have now been restored
- Electricity has been restored in Lushan county

Update 13:03 UTC, Monday 22nd April :
- People in the earthquake zone are picking up their daily work. Shops and markets are open like usual and traders are telling journalists that they sell their usual amount of products.
- Traffic is almost normally again in Ya'an except for what is called "rescue highways" reserved for rescue and earthquake linked services.
- Insurance companies have started to payout the first compensations for earthquake related filings.

Rescue soldiers rush past a hazardous, quake-triggered landslide site to help victims in Lushan county - Image courtesy and copyright Xinhua

Summary 09:40 UTC, Monday 22nd April :

Rescuers race against time for quake victims <http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-04/22/content_16434347.htm>
Chinese rescue workers are in a race against time to save countless lives as aftershocks, landslides and rain hamper rescue efforts in Sichuan quake zone.

Meishan City has come through with their estimate of losses with some staggering numbers:-
Buildings both residential, commercial and industrial have had 352165 rooms damaged to various extents with a total loss of 2.036 billion yuan (330 million USD).
Damage to roads and bridges has caused 882 million yuan damage (143 million USD)
Damage to reservoirs, ditches, dikes, water infrastructure has caused 372 million CNY damage (60 million USD)
Damage to schools and hospitals - 261 million CNY (42 million USD).
Within Meishan city, Hongya County has 1.032 billion yuan of damages and Danleng county has 359 million CNY.
The total loss here is over 3.836 billion yuan, which when calculating back through the other damage locations, will probably lead to a 15-20 billion CNY total pricetag - around 2.5-3 billion USD.
Of this, the insurance loss will be likely less than 1%.

Summary 04:10 UTC, Monday 22nd April :

- The death toll has risen to 188 with 25 missing = 213 people.
- 171000 people are currently being cared for in 60000 tents.
- 26441 rooms (around 8000 houses) have collapsed.
- 142449 rooms (around 40000 houses) have been severely damaged.
- around 500,000 rooms are expected to have slight damage (around 150,000 additional houses/buildings).
- 214 reservoirs and 118.54km of dikes have been damaged in Sichuan province.

We again appeal to the world press to get their facts right. As with the Sichuan earthquake and many other Chinese earthquakes, CATDAT and earthquake-report.com are one of the only correct sources hence why our damaging earthquake reports and databases are the most reliable in the world. Chinese authorities count in rooms (roof between 2 lateral supports) and not in houses. It is impossible that there is more than 1 house per person!

Just displaying the Ya'an City tolls in the first section.
Lushan County - 117 dead, 3 missing, 5537 injured (578 severely)
Baoxing County - 26 dead, 20 missing, 2500 injured (80 severely)
Yucheng District - 15 dead, 0 missing, 1109 injured (37 severely)
Tianquan County - 5 dead, 1 missing, 811 injured (82 severely)
Mingshan County - 2 dead, 0 missing, 607 injured (152 severely)
Yingjing County - 2 dead, 341 injured (31 severely)
Hanyuan County - 1 death, 30 injured.
Shimian District - 36 injured.

In addition in Chengdu, 8 people have been killed of which:-
Qionglai County - 4 dead
Dujiangyan City - 1 death
Longquanyi District - 1 death
Shuangliu County - 1 death
Xinjin County - 1 death

In addition,
Meishan City (Hongya County) - 1 death
Luding County, Ganzi - 3 dead
Kangding County, Ganzi - 2 dead
Deyang City (River County) - 2 dead
Xiaojin County, Aba - 1 dead

Update 02:40 UTC, Monday 22nd April :
- Some slight changes to the death toll, with 186 deaths, and 24 missing = 210 people.
- The injuries have increased to 11826.
- There are some reports stating final losses of around 10 billion RMB (1.6 billion USD). It is expected that the final losses may be even greater.

Update 20:40 UTC :
- We are currently in the middle of the China night and information is scarce. SAR (search and rescue) troops are still fighting against time to save as much as lives as possible. Common understanding in earthquake Rescue is that people almost never survive after being buried for more than 72 hours.
- Electricity supply has been partly resumed in Boaxing. An emergency team from the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) arrived at Baoxing, a county neighboring the epicenter of the 7.0-magnitude quake, by a roundabout route on Sunday and restored power supply to more than 1,000 households in two towns.
- The CCTV video's below are showing the shaking in the greater earthquake area. The second sequence looks to have been recorded closest to the epicenter. A normal person cannot walk in such heavy shaking conditions. The Internationally adviced and accepted policy of DROP, COVER and HOLD cannot be seen on these CCTV images. Please be prepared for a major earthquake and know what to do.

Update 16:38 UTC :
- The risk for damaging landslides triggered by aftershocks will increase considerably tomorrow and the following days due to the rain. Landslides do not only block roads and destroy properties, but are also killing a lot of people in hilly areas.
- UNICEF, The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) China Office is closely monitoring the impact on children living in the hardest hit areas. UNICEF is very concerned about the physical and emotional condition of children living near the epicenter of the earthquake due to the reports that such a high percentage of buildings have collapsed. We are standing by, ready to respond in whatever manner necessary. UNICEF is in contact with its local partners to assess the effect of the severe tremor on children. In cooperation with China's National Working Committee on Children and Women, UNICEF supports a network of more than 40 "Child Friendly Spaces" in Sichuan. Some of these Child Friendly Spaces are located close to the affected area.

Update 16:17 UTC :
- A total of 102 cultural sites have been damaged. Among these units were 24 National sites and 61 Provincial. The quake also damaged 12 museums (274 cultural relics affected).
- At 20:00 Sunday, a total of 1,339 aftershocks had been monitored in the epicenter of Lushan County. Four of them in between M5.0 and M5.9. Many have been felt by the people.
- The fatality record is still at 186. Most of the victims lived in Ya'an (population of 1.53 million!)
- At 16:00 Sunday, health department records state 8,761 people injured, from which 1,397 where hospitalized. According to the commission, a total of 1,125 medical workers have been dispatched to the quake-hit region, and the treatments of the wounded has been conducted mainly in seven neighboring cities including Ya'an and Chengdu.
- After two days of work, traffic was preliminarily restored on a quake-damaged section of the S210 highway that connects the isolated Baoxing County with neighboring Lushan County, the epicenter of the quake.
- The giant pandas at the Wolong Nature Reserve in Ya'an were neither killed or injured during the earthquake.

Image courtesy and copyright Xinhua

Update 12:45 UTC :
- Our latest records are mentioning 186 fatalities and 21 missed people.
- So many human tragedies - Lu Jingkang lost her daughter from the Ya'an earthquake in Southwest China's Sichuan province on April 20, five years after she lost her son in the deadly Wenchuan earthquake.
- Light to moderate rain is expected in the greater earthquake area from Monday to Wednesday

Update 11:56 UTC : - The earthquake is locally denominated as "Lushan earthquake".
- The central Chinese government has allocated 1 billion yuan ($162 million) for disaster relief to the quake zones in Sichuan on Sunday, said the Ministry of Finance.
- A battery charger truck provided by Sichuan Electric Power Corporation offers free cell-phone charging services for people in quake-stricken Lushan county. (ER: what a great initiative - we hope other authorities in the world will be copying this concept)

Image courtesy and copyright Xinhua China

Update 11:31 UTC :
- Sichuan provincial government held a press conference on Sunday and reported that :
---- 2986 kilometers of road and 327 bridges damaged
---- 24 substations and 224 power lines destroyed
---- 724 fixed and mobile communication base stations damaged
---- Communication breakdown in 16 townships.
- A helicopter carrying China Rescue members returned after experiencing unstable, strong turbulence on its way to quake-hit Baoxing county.
- Ningkang Dam, damaged in the Ya'an earthquake, has been switched off due to the safety concern over national highway 318, causing water shortage to more than 10,000 residents in Quantian county, Local authorities are building pipelines to deliver water from the dam to residents.

Offers for international Assistance
China thanked the international community on Sunday for offering assistance.
"The Chinese government and people are sincerely grateful to various means of assistance offered by some countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement.
Stressing the Chinese government is going all out to carry out rescue work, Qin said the country has guaranteed rescue and medical treatment capability and sufficient rescue materials.
"Considering the inconvenient traffic and telecommunications in quake zone, foreign rescue and medical teams and materials are not required now," Qin said, adding that China will make requests if needed.

Update 09:16 UTC : We do see a quick climb in readers from China at this moment. The aftershock was reported as a Ml5.4 aftershock, It will probably be further damaging unstable buildings and are a real risk for SAR teams (Search and Rescue)

Update 08:36 UTC : The numbers of injured are contradictory depending of the source.
- The Ministry of Justice has ordered judiciary departments to ensure stability of prisons in the damaged earthquake area in Sichuan.
- Two medical teams from Chengdu will be transported by helicopter to Baoxing county, which was inaccessible by road.
- Armed forces involved in the relief mission are required to reach every village and all households in the affected areas to rescue survivors and treat the injured. They are also required to help in re-opening roads, transport materials, build shelters and providing supplies, according to a joint command of the Chengdu Military Area Command (MAC) on Sunday.

Update 07:53 UTC : Due to the length of this report and to shorten the download time, we have cut a part of it
China - Deadly SICHUAN (Ya'an) earthquake April 20 2013 - Part 1 (Archive)

Summary 06:00 UTC -
- 180 dead
- 24 missing
- 980 seriously injured
- 10500 slightly injured
- 120000 relocated
- 1.5 million people affected.
- 1.981 billion RMB economic loss (320 million USD) - but this is expected to rise in the coming days.
- around 500,000 rooms have been damaged (representing around 130,000 houses)
- around 20,000 rooms have collapsed (representing around 6000-7000 houses)

Image courtesy and copyright news.cn

Important Update 05:40 UTC -
In Ya'an City - 400,000 rooms have been damaged (of which 12851 have collapsed)
- 34 reservoirs have been damaged and 2668 damaged drains. The building, agriculture, forestry, water and economic losses total around 1.43 billion yuan (over 225 million USD).
- The city has a need to settle 48,915 families at this point, however some of these are as a temporary precaution.

In Zigong City - 8276 people have been affected of which 1874 people have been relocated.
- 6581 rooms have been damaged, with 982 rooms collapsed. (There are around 3.5 rooms per house, however collapsed room sometimes only occur in one room of a house.) Total losses currently are 106.17 million RMB (around 17 million USD).

In Deyang City - 2 dead, 57 injured, 150000 people affected (means they have felt the earthquake, had power outages or were generally in the area. The current losses total 59 million RMB (just under 10 million USD)

In Meishan City - 177656 people affected with 1 dead, 30 injured, 1392 people relocated. Ranging damage to 23032 families homes, or 86710 rooms. The total losses currently are around 217.89 million RMB, (around 35 million USD)

In Neijiang City - 3 counties and 84 townships affected, 88 rooms collapsed, 1231 rooms damaged, damage to 3 high voltage lines, 118.6km damaged irrigation channels, 34km damaged roads, 8 slight injuries. The total losses are around 274.54 million RMB (around 43 million USD).

Update 05:28 UTC
- Death toll has been updated by the Sichuan earthquake bureau with it having risen to 180, with 24 people still missing.
- 11,492 people have been injured, 980 of which classified seriously
- 1.5 million people have been affected, with around 120,000 being relocated at this point. (about the same numbers as the Yunnan quakes last year).
- 2 major aftershocks of M5.2 and M5.0 occurred in the last few hours, which have added to losses.
- 1.981 billion Yuan is the current direct economic loss estimate (around $300 million USD), however this is expected to rise in the coming days.

Update 05:12 UTC - Death toll has currently risen to 181.
A break down of the deaths:-
Lushan County including Ya'an City - 117
Baoxing County - 24
Yucheng District - 15
Tianquan County - 1
Mingshan County - 2
Hanyuan County - 1

In addition in Chengdu, 8 people have been killed of which:-
Qionglai County - 4 (also 900 rooms collapsed)
Dujiangyan City - 1
Longquanyi District - 1
Shuangliu County - 1
Xinjin County - 1

In addition,
Meishan City (Hongya County) - 1
Luding County, Ganzi - 3
Kangding County, Ganzi - 2
Deyang City (River County) - 2
Xiaojin County, Aba - 1

This unfortunately gives a total of 181 people. Over 11000 have been injured.

Update 21:14 UTC - Strong aftershock at 04:53 local time. M5.0 at a depth of 16 km. As a lot of people of damaged houses will be sleeping in tents or in open air, we believe that this earthquake will not generate more injuries or fatalities. Unstable buildings and rescue workers finding their way in the debris may have got a potential risk.
- A total of 846 aftershocks have been recorded, including 57 above 3.0 magnitude and 3 between 5.0-5.9 magnitude.

Update 20:00 UTC - We expect that the death toll will rise in the coming hours slightly with the sunlight. In addition, more information will come to hand with regard to the number of damaged rooms, with significantly more than 40,000 currently quoted. The number is expected to be closer to 500,000 rooms, with the Sichuan quake in 2008 having destroyed 5,600,000 rooms (around 1.5 million houses) and damaged 21,000,000 rooms (around 6 million houses).
- Over 700 landslides have been registered.

Update 19:55 UTC - According to the Ya'an City Earthquake Disaster Mitigation report: As of April 21st, the number of deaths has reached 145 people with an additional 16 people missing with the number of injured reaching 6700 people of which 494 people are severely injured.
- There have been 846 aftershocks with 57 of these being over M3.0 (likely felt). Over M5.0 there have been 2 aftershocks with the largest coming at 11.34am local time on the 20th with a magnitude of M5.3.
14 aftershocks have been between M4.0 and M4.9, and an additional 41 between 3.0 and 3.9.

Update 19:40 UTC - Of the 161 presumed dead, 16 are still missing, 145 are confirmed dead.
- Nearly 50% of collapsed houses previously reported from Lushan county was in the old town. In other locations the percentages were much lower.
- The Lushan county earthquake disaster relief headquarters have the following number should there be any major concerns or people are stuck in the epicentral region who are only english speaking:-
Tel 011-86-28-62726619, Fax 011-86-28-86605762
- The Premier, Li Keqiang has promised 10 Yuan and 1kg grain per day for each person affected by this quake as per the 5.12 earthquake ruling.
- In addition, 60000-70000 tents will be sent to the area if needed.
- The rescue groups are still working to look for victims, as they may then save a number of victims as up to 72 hours is usually the golden window for saving people under the rubble, however there are instances of up to 10 days from previous earthquakes within which people have been saved.

Update 19:30 UTC -
- The death toll at the moment remains at 161.
- In addition, 200 million RMB (around 30 million USD) has been set aside by the CDB just as emergency credit for the city of Ya'an.
- It is expected the losses will reach over 5 billion RMB.
- 150000 people have been affected, many will be temporarily relocated.
- There has been many donations from groups such as private charities, table tennis teams, businesses and many more.
- 30,000 relief tents, 50,000 blankets and 10,000 folding beds, 20,000 disaster relief tents and 50,000 quilts have been sent to the epicentral region, giving an indication to the numbers of homeless people.

Update 17:15 UTC - 161 people have been reported as killed so far (some are still missing which indicates that this number will further rise the coming hours. Max. delay to get people from below the rubble is approx. 72 hours. The weather conditions are favourable in Sichuan until tomorrow noon, after that the weather will be worsening (drizzle and rain for the next 3 days).

Update 16:35 UTC - This is an overview of the main points reiterated during the Press conference of the Sichuan governor earlier tonight (local time)
- More than 5,600 people were injured from whom 400 seriously. 140,000 people need to be relocated.
- It is one of the most destructive earthquakes in China in recent years. A 8.0-magnitude quake in Wenchuan county in Sichuan Province left 87,000 dead or missing (numbers vary depending the source) in May 12, 2008.
- Most of the old brick-wood houses were destroyed by the earthquake and parts of the brick-concrete houses were seriously damaged, according to Xinhua reporters at Gucheng village of Longmen township, the epicenter of the quake.
- Soldiers are racing against time in search of survivors in the debris in the village.
- Among some 7,000 houses in Longmen township, 5,000 collapsed in the quake.
- Hundred of tents have arrived at the village but the villagers still need 8,000 more tents.
- Ya'an (140 km from Chengdu) has a population of 1.53 million and is known as the hometown of the giant panda.
- President Xi Jinping on Saturday ordered all-out measures to rescue victims and minimize casualties soon after the quake. He asked to strengthen seismic monitoring, take concrete steps to prevent secondary disasters, properly relocate people affected by the disaster, and maintain social stability of the quake zone.

Image courtesy and copyright news.cn

- The Communist Party of China Central Committee and Xi entrusted Premier Li Keqiang to direct the quake-relief work, who arrived at the quake-zone in the afternoon. Li took a helicopter to the epicenter and called a meeting at around 6 p.m. at the front-line headquarters in Longmen township. "Life is the most important thing and the top priority is saving lives, " Li said. No minute or even second should be delayed during the "golden rescue period" in the first 72 hours after the quake.
Li urged rescuers to examine every house to ensure all the injured residents are saved amid continuous aftershocks. He also ordered the guarantee of accommodation, food and safe water for residents in the quake zone as well as measures against any epidemic situation.
- Emergency teams of ministries, armed forces and armed police are heading to the quake zone.
- Hardest-hit areas : townships of Longmen and Qingren.
- "Old houses in Gucheng village with a population of 3,000, completely collapsed. More than 95 percent of the houses in the village are uninhabitable and will need to be checked.
- Vehicles damaged by rolling rocks were seen in Lushan. Houses along a street in the Lushan county seat have also collapsed.
- Patients are receiving medical treatment on the ground in front of the Lushan County Hospital (they are treated in open space to avoid falling debris from possible aftershocks)
- The water and electricity supply in the county has been cut off due to the quake.
- Landslides have blocked traffic in many places across the county and two barrier lakes caused by the landslides are posing risks for the rescue efforts.
- Bifeng Gorge, a panda research base affiliated to the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, is only 47 km from the epicenter. But there have no reports of human or panda casualties.
- About 3,870 armed police have arrived in Lushan county to assist with rescue efforts.
- More than 10,000 soldiers, including 8,000 field forces and 5,000 militia, have arrived at the disaster-hit areas by foot, trucks and helicopters.
- The soldiers will search for survivors household by household and distribute materials to the affected villages.
- Sadly, a military vehicle carrying 17 soldiers en route to the quake-hit area plummeted off a cliff around Saturday noon, killing one soldier and badly injured two.
- About 200 technicians from China Mobile (Sichuan branch) have been dispatched to disaster-hit areas to repair the telecommunications network.
- Infrastructures remain intact in Sichuan but are badly damaged and broken in the epicenter and nearby.
- The State Grid Corporation of China (electricity) said the major lines in the province are operating smoothly, but those in the quake-hit area are severely damaged.
- In Lushan county, two transformer substations have halted service, with one of them unable to resume operation. Five hydropower stations in Ya'an are disconnected.
- According to the nation's major telecommunications companies, as many as 279 telecommunication base stations have collapsed due to the quake (ER repeats over and over that also base stations should be earthquake resistant - Telecommunications base stations are collapsing all over the world, again and again ...).
- The earthquake has also damaged 34 reservoirs or dams in Sichuan and affected the water supply for 303,000 people, according to the provincial water resources department.
- Sichuan has rich oil and gas resources, with many pipelines and refineries. Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, said no damage had been reported at its production facilities in the quake-hit regions.
Content and credit based on the Xinhua transcriptions after the press conference.

China's emergency response on disasters have made tremendous progress after the Wenchuan earthquake (we can only underwrite this claim - congratulations from ER)

Update 15:16 UTC : The video below shows the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang visiting the heavily damaged epicenter area. We can confirm that the authorities almost immediately after the earthquake started bringing out reports and sending reinforcements to the earthquake zone. New leaders who really want to be an example for the population.
Li Keqiang was on the ground while the aftershocks were still going on.

Update 15:00 UTC
- Firefighters have pulled out 93 people from collapsed structures, including 91 survivors, as of 7:40 p.m Saturday
- The provincial military command also distributed over 1,000 sets of tents, small engines, protective oral-nasal masks and gloves to the area.
- In the meantime, the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) has opened four landing spots for helicopters in county seat and three townships of Lushan. The PLAAF have sent more than 10 sorties of rescue resources to the area.
- The PLA's General Staff Department on Saturday afternoon decided to equip a total of 260 sets of Beidou satellite positioning advices to the military units in the disaster area, and 103 sets have already entered the area as of 5 p.m. Beijing Time.

Update 14:50 UTC : It will be soon dark in China. Some electricity grids are still working but we can imagine that rescue work will be hampered by the night. Information from then on will be less informative. ER will however continue to bring you the latest information from the earthquake zone.

Update 14:19 UTC : The Governor of Sichuan is currently giving a detailed overview of what is going on in the earthquake zone and which efforts are being used to counter the misery.
- Chongqing eight houses collapsed, and one slightly injured
- Yunnan Province, nearly 900 houses were damaged
- Shaanxi Liuba County earthquake triggered the collapse of the mountain, one death

Update 14:19 UTC : - Of the many injured, 5,427 came from Ya'an. One person was even killed in the Shaanxi province (Province of Xi'an). Even more surprised about some fatalities as far as a couple of hundred km from the epicenter. As we do not know the exact reason of their deth, it may also have been secondary reason like heart attacks etc.

Image courtesy and copyright Chinanews.com

Update 14:07 UTC : 34 reservoirs have been damaged to a different extend. Not dangerous at this moment, but in case of a major M6+ aftershock, these reservoirs are forming a real risk to all the villages at lower levels.
The authorities have in the meanwhile evacuated the villages who have the highest risk to be flooded in case of a reservoir burst.
- 41 aftershocks have been recorded at a Magnitude M3 or higher.

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Update 13:49 UTC : Our Bottom Map 1 looks more and more like a big red surface. The red buttons show the location of the aftershocks as reported by the main international agencies.
The death toll is now 157
- Donations numbers are now shown on the Chinese TV and people start to donate to empower the rescue efforts. Also private organizations are helping not only with money but also by sending goods and offering transport means.

Update 13:45 UTC : Chinese rescue forces are acknowledging the important role of the Internet in today's earthquake. As Mobile communications were only short time interrupted, people did start to send pictures from the devastation together with their location to the Rescue numbers. Even more, people are also using Portable routers enabling other people to make use of their 3G signal. Modern technology at the side of rescue efforts.

Update 13:01 UTC : 6000 people are now reported as injured

Update 12:56 UTC : The China Meteorological Bureau expects rain in Lushan
- Some seriously injured people have been transported to Chengdu, the provincial capital who has a lot more facilities

Our tribute goes to 2 soldiers who have died earlier today while rescuing people

Update 12:45 UTC : We are posting regular updates on TWITTER and FACEBOOK about the continuing events. Please subscribe to our accounts if you want to become a well informed world citizen.
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Update 12:43 UTC : 7,941 soldiers are at work in the earthquake zone at this moment. 10,000 more are standing by to be dispatched if a call comes from the disaster command.

Update 12:31 UTC : Earthquake-report.com expresses their admiration towards the Chinese SAR and Relief forces. They are doing a very great job. Chinese authorities have invested huge amounts of money in the organization of disaster response. It will not be perfect and people will be critical from all sites, but as 24/24 7/7 followers of earthquake disasters we are well placed to compare disaster response. We can only admire the efforts of the Chinese community.

Update 12:26 UTC : The death toll has further risen to 156. More than 2,000 people injured and this is currently expected to increase with numbers of slightly injured yet to be added from certain locations.

Image courtesy and copyright CCTV China

Update 12:22 UTC : As could be expected, aftershocks are continuing to strike the greater earthquake area, until now only limited in strength (maximum M5.2 ). Let's hope that there will be no M6 in the coming days. M6.0+ would be dangerous for unstable damaged structures and for the rescue personnel working.

Update 11:50 UTC: 54 people were rescued from collapsed houses in recent hours. Among them, two children and a pregnant woman.

Image courtesy and copyright bjnews.com.cn

It is impossible to tell the individual stories of all earthquake victims here. But we think this one is the best example to show the cruelty of this fatal quake:
A seven year old child was rescued from his collapsed home. He survived 9 hours in the arms of his killed mother. She protected the life of this boy with her body and had to die for it, while her son survived the quake without physical injuries.

Image courtesy CCTV China

Update 11:05 UTC : Number of casualities in Chengdu is also rising. 6 people were killed and 188 more injured in this town. So far, most of the casualities (57) coming from Lushan, one of the towns very close to the epicenter.
There are reports of 200 people in a small village trapped by a landslide blocking a road.

Update 10:42 UTC : Number of fatalities rises to 124.

Update 09:45 UTC : Overview of earthquake fatalities (total so far: 113) by town:
Lushan : 57, Baoxing : 6, Chengdu : 4, Tianquan : 3, Xinjin : 1, Hongya : 1, Luding : 1, Deyang : 1 and unknown: 39

Update 09:31 UTC : 113 people are confirmed dead. Meanwhile, it is estimated, that 90% of all houses in Ya'an area were damaged due to the earthquake.

Update 09:27 UTC : Chengdu, the largest town of Sichuan with approx. 10 mio inhabitants, is 100 northeast of the epicenter. 4 people were killed and 125 more were injured there by the quake.

Update 09:20 UTC : The good news: A man in Ya'an was found under the debris of a collapsed house. He was unconscious but obviously alive.

Update 09:11 UTC : A rumor in the internet currently scares people in Sichuan. It says Chengdu will be hit by an M 9.3 earthquake in the coming days. Of course this rumor is without any scientific evidence. We are shocked that some people use this terrible situation for a message like this. All we can say is, earthquakes are not predictable, neither by scientist, nor by "normal" people. So don't believe something like this!

Update 09:01 UTC : According to new reports, more than 3000 people were injured by the quake. Death toll is still at 102.

Update 08:56 UTC : One of the injured soldiers, whose bus falled into a river, died in hospital.

Update 08:49 UTC : New death tolls now arriving every few minutes. After new correction at leas 102 people are confirmed dead.

Update 08:40 UTC : Unfortunately we have to say that the death toll reached the number of 100.
Also a good news: A popular Chinese online news agency donates 1 mio. chinese Yuan (~160000 US-Dollar) for the earthquake victims. Money, that is urgently needed.

Update 08:30 UTC : Death toll rises to 82.

Update 08:27 UTC : A bus carrying 17 soldiers to earthquake area fell down a cliff into a river. One of the soldiers died, 5 others were seriously injured.

Update 08:05 UTC : About 80,000 prisoners have been evacuated from prisons in Sichuan. Among them, more than 2,000 were evacuated from a prison in Ya’an county. No deaths were reported among the prisoners, but one person was injured in the leg. Yes, this number of 80,000 is correct - this is for the whole of Sichuan. This must be an amazing amount of coordination by police.

Update 08:03 UTC : The Chinese response has been exceptional with the scale of the disaster also helping things compared to the 2008 earthquake. The Chinese are the best in the world for disaster response, with provincial seismological bureaus and even city-based disaster response.

Update 08:01 UTC : The death toll remains at 78, with around 2500 injured and 80,000 displaced/relocated/affected. It is likely that the economic losses will be over 1 billion USD, but less than 5 billion USD (up to 30 billion RMB). This depends a lot on the damage extent in Ya'an City.

Update 07:59 UTC : The earthquake has also had a few births, with one reported from an earthquake shelter, so it is not all gloomy.

Update 07:57 UTC : The power grid of Lushan county was damaged and water supply was cut off after the quake. Tents, water and food are badly needed.
- No student deaths have been reported, according to the education authority.

Update 07:32 UTC : 78 deaths and 2260 injured are the current numbers coming out of Sichuan. We are waiting for second confirmation.

Update 07:29 UTC : Unfortunately, there has been 1 death and 7 injured as a result of a car crash from soldiers coming to rescue people in Ya'an. Our thoughts are with their families as with all of the affected people.

Update 07:24 UTC : The Ministry of Civil affairs has launched a National Emergency III response, which is less than a IV response.

Cracks can be seen in Modong Reservoir and Miaoxi Reservoir in Lushan county, and Shiyang Reservoir in Tianquan county. People downstream of this have been evacuated and structural checks are being made to the reservoirs.
Here is a more global view of reservoir hazard due to earthquakes. A reminder that the risk of the green dots is probably more as most countries of low seismicity do not have as higher quality earthquake construction.

The hazard of dams can be seen on the following diagram which combines the GRanD database with GSHAP to show the hazard of worldwide reservoirs - the risk however, can be much more in locations which don't build for big earthquakes. A few reservoirs in this earthquake have seen damage. (Daniell, 2012)

Update 07:15 UTC : Like the 2008 Sichuan earthquake a lot of landslides have been seen from aerial footage of the earthquake.
The National Red Cross starts Emergency Response Mechanism for this earthquake and in addition, there are around 2000 medical workers currently on the scene.

Update 07:08 UTC : Although aftershocks can occur within 1.5 fault lengths of an earthquake, this is likely not an aftershock of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. It is significantly far away from the end of the earthquake slip & fault model that was computed by seismologists after. It is possibly the stress transfer however from the 2008 earthquake which may have influenced this quake with a slight increase in stress in the fault zones around the 2008 fault break due to stress release and transfer.

Update 07:03 UTC : This quake has been felt in all the surrounding Provinces (see our I Have Felt It reports below). The Chengdu Railway system has been partially reopened and in addition the prime minister is currently flying over the scene to gauge the destruction.

Update 07:00 UTC : The total of 71 deaths remains. As of 13:00 local time, firefighters from Sichuan province have rescued 34 people out of the debris of the quake, of whom 32 people, including a pregnant woman and two children, survived.

Update 06:55 UTC : Flood prevention office of Lushan county said that cracks can be seen in Modong Reservoir and Miaoxi Reservoir in Lushan county, and Shiyang Reservoir in Tianquan county. People in downstream have been evacuated.

Update 06:50 UTC : 71 have now been confirmed killed (at least from CCTV sources). All patients in Lushan hospital are sound and safe. Firefighters in Ya'an saved 9 rubble-trapped people. CCTV says 71 have been killed but still shows a TV banner with 56 deaths, so we will need to be cautious however since CCTV gets info from Rescue authorities directly this is a better source than Reuters!

Update 06:46 UTC : Cracks have appeared in some Lushan reservoirs. This could prove dangerous if another major quake comes along before repairs can be made. The 1933 Diexi earthquake some of our readers will remember caused over 5000 deaths via flooding after downstream towns were decimated by a huge wave of water from a failed reservoir and quake lakes formed by landslides.

Update 06:45 UTC : We have unconfirmed reports of 58 deaths.

Update 06:35 UTC : As with the "fake death toll" of Reuters sources in the Iran earthquake about a week ago of 40 deaths in Iran when there were actually 0 killed in Iran, there is no evidence that this earthquake has killed over 57 people despite all the death tolls above them currently in world press.

Update 06:30 UTC : The toll of 135 severely injured and 600-700 slightly injured is expected to rise. Ya'an City has around 1.53 million people living over an area of 15,300km2. As for the 57 deaths, this toll has not changed for a long time, and is generally updated fast in China following these events like the 7.9 earthquakes which killed 81 people last year.

Update 06:27 UTC : Along with the 6600+ troops that have been sent to the area previously in the last few hours - (this coordination and rescue effort is nothing short of amazing), 40 emergency repair vehicles, 20 satellite phones, 100 kilometers of fiber optic cable, 128 oil tankers, emergency communications vehicles, etc. emergency communications supplies, tents, drinking water and many more supplies have been sent to the area.

This will allow for quick resupply of basic needs for the people in Ya'an and other majorly affected areas.

Update 06:07 UTC : The video below is showing the aerial images we have reported from before. The Chinese Prime Minister is currently in an airplane towards the epicenter area to see with his own eyes what the extend of the damage is.
- Rescuers in Lushan had pulled 27 survivors out of rubble
- No children reported injured in the damaged kindergarten

Update 05:55 UTC : some more pictures to show our readers the extend of the damage. The death toll still stands at 56 since quite some time now.

Image courtesy and copyright bjnews.com.cn

Update 05:38 UTC : The current earthquake has about 30 times less energy released than the M7.8 Wenshuan 2008 earthquake.

Update 05:31 UTC : This report is partly based on CCTV where we can follow live what is happening in China. Local sources, Live tv signal and the earthquake technical data are helping us out to deliver a complete information of this earthquake.

Update 05:24 UTC : As mostly with earthquakes, it were mostly older buildings and houses who have collapsed.
- The picture below is from a Chinese TV host who married today and who went immediately on air after the earthquake struck.

Due to the length of our reporting, we had to cut a part(s) of our report into archived parts

Part 1 (from the mainshock until 05:13 UTC)

111 km SW of Chengdu, China / pop: 3,950,437 / local time: 08:02:53.0 2013-04-20
97 km NW of Leshan, China / pop: 154,477 / local time: 08:02:53.0 2013-04-20

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