Earthquake In China

Several readers sent in links on the earthquake that hit 10 hours ago near the Sichuan city of Chengdu in China. The Telegraph focuses on the citizen journalism that got word on the quake out on the Net instantly (the first report was via Twitter). Science magazine speculates that deaths from this event could exceed the 240,000 killed in the Tangshan quake in 1976, though the estimated death toll is below 10,000 at this writing. Hundreds of videos are up on YouTube, including this footage from a security camera — keep your eye on the goldfish.

Twitter?

[crazybit]

aren't there any seismographs connected to the internet in china?

that should have been faster than a human posting on twitter.

This is the future

[Robert1]

The instant an event happens anywhere in the world you have hundreds of cameras on it. This is a very, very good thing. Reporters and ground crews are no longer necessary to capture footage, you can get it de novo, unfiltered, unbiased. Of course, this only happens in a sufficiency advanced nation that has ubiquitous means of recording and means of transmission.

Which is interesting because I could swear China had a Youtube block to prevent such uncontrolled proliferation of footage.

Slashdot-proof?

[Raineer]

I don't know if it's possible for the youtube link to get /.'ed but the shaking starts almost 5 minutes into the video and lasts for about 90 seconds. I have never been in an earthquake and certainly not sure how I'd feel about one that lasted so long.

Re:News for Nerds?

[Revenger75]

They had to find a semi-worthwhile story to put up because they were running out of advertisements like the one here [slashdot.org] and this one [slashdot.org]. Interesting how this disaster gets a slashdot article, but the cyclone in Burma didn't, unless I missed something.

Re:Twitter?

[kcelery]

http://www.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1006/4/3/1/100643181.html?coluid=45&kindid=0&docid=100643181&mdate=0513002548 [chinareviewnews.com]

Early warning from toad migration on May 10.

Re:Slashdot-proof?

[Dreadneck]

I was in the Loma Prieta earthquake that happened during the World Series back in 1989. I was stationed at the Presidio of Monterey and standing on the 2nd floor balcony of my barracks smoking a cigarette when it happened. It was the first and hopefully last earthquake I'll ever experience. It was a frightening and unnerving experience that seemed to last forever. The earthquake in China was almost 10 times more powerful and lasted 6 times longer than the one I went through - it must have been terrifying.

Re:The real tragedy of the earthquake...

[trawg]

Also, why the hell is this filed under Quake (the game) stories?

Re:A tragedy...

[Anonymous Coward]

I get where you're coming from, I really do. And I have great sympathy for the people who are suffering due to this earthquake, and the recent cyclone. No joke.

But seriously, making cracks about something you have absolutely no control over in any which way is not that uncommon a thing to do. And what else is there to say? Variations on 'I hope things go OK for them'? A link to the ICRC? Really, there isn't much to say on the topic.

A teacher of mine once pointed out that people - almost to a man - would mourn the loss of a finger more than they would mourn a disaster such as that which we're talking about. It's sad, but true - we simply care more about things we're attached to in some way (no pun intended, but I'll let it through anyway).

I, personally, have no family, friends or acquaintances in the quake zone. I have no particularly strong group identification with the people affected. This disaster, this tragedy, is in a real way foreign to me.

So yes, you are absolutely correct that my jokes were tasteless. But, in the final equation, a bit of detached wit in the face of a disaster on the other side of the world doesn't put me much lower on the moral totam pole than you; it isn't, in my not so humble opinion, very much worse of a reaction than your fiery brand of moralizing.

Re:Slashdot-proof?

[joggle]

I was a kid watching that game on TV. I remember seeing things begin to shake, then the signal was lost, then it came back for a bit and then I think there was a minute or more of no signal (just a screen saying they were having technical problems). And then they canceled the game so I was bummed out.

Then the next day I found out how bad the earthquake had been and was sorry for the people living there and the victims but also glad I lived in an area that experienced no earthquakes.

I recently went to Japan and experienced a couple of small earthquakes at night. I slept through the first one but the second one felt like somebody was trying to wake me by shaking me. I literally said out loud "I'm up already" before I realized nobody was shaking me and it was just an earthquake. It was so small that it didn't scare me though, although it was a bit unnerving (it was the first earthquake I ever experienced).

Re:Many aftershocks

[Rufus211]

Wow, getting hit by a 7.9 sucks. An immediate aftershock of 6.0 sucks even more. Having an additional 32 (as of this post) aftershocks in the 4.5-5.5ish range?! That's just insane, I can't imagine the trouble rescue workers are having from them.

list [usgs.gov] and map [usgs.gov] from USGS.

Gee Thanks /.

[coaxial]

10 hours, later and only now /. is mentioning it.

Personally, I find the the Quake 3 symbol a nice touch. Nice to see another section is being misused beyond enlightenment [enlightenment.org].

Ouch

[WindBourne]

First, that was NOT the entire's US response to Katrina. It was the feds, not citizen's. Many of us sent in money and did help how we could. Home were opened, jobs created, etc. But your characterizations of the bush response is actually kind of wicked. I had not thought about it in that context, but you are right.

Re:This is the future

[Ritz_Just_Ritz]

I'm sitting in my flat in Beijing watching the "goldfish video" on youtube right now. The download was a bit slow, but it's not blocked.

Don't get me wrong, China's censorship is lame and probably won't last much longer as it just becomes too difficult to accomplish, but it's not as all encompassing as people think. The pr0n must flow.

Cheers,

Re:Heart ?

[sydneyfong]

Well you're right (in the post which I'm reply to). But it doesn't mean I'm wrong.

I think the apparent support would be a mix of "brainwashing" and genuine support. You make it sound like all Chinese are 100% brainwashed drones, a myth that I was trying to dispel.

Yes there is censorship, yes there is state propaganda, yes there are even blind, zealous "patriots", but the lack of democratic institutions doesn't mean that this particular government is "in fact" hated by the people, and it doesn't mean that all Chinese are too indoctrinated that they can't utilize their brains.

cruel comments, tsk tsk

[guorbatschow]

isnt that typical? chinese live on the other side of the world. the US (i take that most slashdotters are from the US) couldnt care less.

this is exactly why the burmese government is afraid to accept foreign help after their catastrophe. while humanitarian organizations just want to help, the governments behind those organizations want to judge. if you really want to help, brush aside political issues for a while.

and i really get the impression that slashdot mostly consists of attention whores who just want to top eachother with cruel jokes and sadistic comments.

Re:Heart ?

[Ex-MislTech]

The "whites" were Europeans that came to the Americas,
primarily Spanish, French, British, Dutch, etc etc.

They did things like hand out small pox blankets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_blanket#Biological_warfare [wikipedia.org]

The Native Americans were many different tribes, and
they really did not have a large unification til around the
time of Custer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custer#Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn [wikipedia.org]

Some Native Americans tried to flee to canada after fighting
and were pursued all the way to Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nez_Perce#Chief_Joseph.27s_surrender [wikipedia.org]

Some fought brutal guerilla style war for many years

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo [wikipedia.org]

The skull and bones society stole his bones back in the day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo#Theft_of_remains [wikipedia.org]

So that is who the "whites" are.

The whites are the ppl who signed many treaties, and did not
honor most of them.

Their were some instances when Native Americans who had family
members killed went on rampages as well thou.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_treaties#U.S._Native_American_treaties [wikipedia.org]

There are still many tribes, several names known by very few.

My tribe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Potawatomi_Nation [wikipedia.org]

I credit my grandfather with my dim view of so called society.

He was one of the most brilliant men I ever personally knew.

My tour of duty in the US military working on RADAR showed
me that the killing of local indigenous ppl by profiteers
has been justified by said profiteers for a very long time.

It continues to this day...

Re:Heart ?

[dbcad7]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3578941.ece [timesonline.co.uk]

Come on.. do your blah blah blah free Tibet speech, you know you want to.. obviously these tourists are brainwashed and Chinese government approved.

Re:Compare

[porcupine8]

Wow, it's really interesting to read some of the serious posts and realize how much misinformation was swarming around in the minutes/hours after the attack - explosions at the white house, 11 planes hijacked (probably due to one of the flight #s being #11), Algeria claiming responsibility - no, it was the Palestinians! (With a bonus extremely protracted "Fuck the palestinians/good on the palestinians" flame war attached.)

Re:Heart ?

[sdhoigt]

Thanks for your insight.

I've felt for a long time that it is the US government and controlled media who keep "China" as an enemy to US citizens (of which I am one).

It wasn't until I visited China a few years back and met many, many sincerely nice Chinese people on the street (weren't they supposed to hate me, I'm American?), that I could confirm that American citizens are prisoners of our government/media's agenda.

I know this is a simplistic experience, but it left a lasting impact.

Thanks,
SD