I have not seen any posts from our Asia friends today, just wondering how they might be doing in light of the terrible disaster in China. Hope everyone is okay.

Just checked in with friends in Beijing and they are ok. Seems quake hit Schichuan province most heavily. News within China seems a little limited from what my friends are saying.

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3 lions

Newspaper in Hong Kong reported today that 8,533 people were so far confirmed dead in Chengdu (Capital city of Sichuan Province). No communication can be established with Wenchuan county in Chengdu hit directly by the quake which was equivalent to the force of 252 atomic bombs. The quake took place just about 20+ kilometers below the earth's surface. It was also reported yesterday that the Premier was flying to Sichuan to assess the situation. I was watching DVD yesterday afternoon at about 3:00 p.m. at home (it was public holiday in HK) and the venetian blinds at the living room were swaying left and right because of the quake. That was about 30 minutes after the quake hit Wenchuan county. It was also reported that some workers in an industrial building in Hong Kong had to evacuate because the building itself was swaying and they were afraid of their safety. Many other places also felt the quake including Beijing, Shanghai, southern and eastern parts of China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand. Back in July 1976, a quake of 7.8 hit Tangshan at Hebei Province (city in the north) and killed more than 270,000 people and the city was virtually demolished. The quake this time is also 7.8 and I think it's going to be real bad again. Several organizations in HK are now organizing fund-raising activities to help the victims.

As I myself have experienced the enormous earthquake in Kobe 1995, called Hanshin-Awaji big earthquake disaster, I worry about the situation in the damaged region now.

I hope the quick recovery and more lives can be saved .

the worst thing is normal transport is completely cut of to the region thats worst hit, so that region is still cut off.

The Tangshan quake hit the city at the middle of the night and no-one had any chance to escape.

this time the quake was at noon so hopefully more ppl were able to react and escape.

My condolences and thoughts are with those affected.

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2006 Porsche Cayman S, Lapis Blue, Tiptronics, 997TT-style wheels, Sprint Booster, HIP clear engine cover, Schild trunk liner

7.8 is just frightning, I really dunno what to say except to offer my condolonces

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"Sir! We're surrounded!" - "Excellent! We can shoot in any direction!"

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I appreciate you sharing your experiences with us, as large as the planet is, it is just as small when things like this happen. Stay safe.

This is devastating:

The Guardian newspaper from the UK is reporting 12,000 dead in Sichuan province alone with many more still buried.

Thoughts are with them.

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3 lions

I think the worst is yet to be revealed. The centre of the quake - Wenchuan - is still inaccessible by road or by river. Contact with two military scouts trying to get to Wenchuan by the river was lost. There were thunderstorms affecting the area so it cannot be accessed by air. No one knows what's the situation there. More than thousands are buried beneath debris and there are simply not enough resources to save them. A Hong Kong TV reporter heard a boy screaming under the debris for water and told the reporter that he is paralysed and he is dying. No one seems to be able to help. The most frustrating thing about this piece of news is that the reporter keep on asking him question about how he felt instead of rushing for help (even though the reporter can't see where he was buried). So much for journalism !

Living in California, and having grown up in the Philippines, I think of myself as being used to earthquakes, but an event this magnitude is beyond imagination. The number of dead and missing keeps growing hour by hour, and the weather's not cooperating much.

All we can do is contribute to the relief funds! Dig deep into your pockets, guys!

I landed in Taiwan Tuesday night and turned on the news when I got to the hotel - that was the first news item that popped up. It was felt in Taiwan? From that far away? Gives you some idea of how large it was!

The airborne unit finally arrived at Wenchuan - centre of the quake. From the military's helicopter, a Chinese reporter said that there was virtually no building still standing there. The population in Wenchaun is estimated to be 110,000 and so far only about 2,300 survivors are found. Death toll of other areas as at yesterday was about 18,000. That's how bad it is.

Thank you for the updates, for some reason here in the states we are hearing more about Burma than China. I would have expected that this would stay on the front pages of the news media but it has not and we hear less about the magnitude of disaster.

I can understand that Burma is an international issue that touches on many people's nerve and it deserved to be so. Natural disasters do come and go but people in HK are naturally more concerned. Anyway, the latest death toll is about 20,000 with many still buried in debris with no hope of saving them. HK Government has donated about US$37 million to PRC as relief funds and more would be coming from fund rasing activities. As a Chinese, I do appreciate all of you who show genuine concern. Thanks again.

I hope the world responds with as much concern for China as it does for other countries. When you see some of the pictures that are on the internet and the complete and utter lose of life and property and complete towns it makes you realize that our differences are far less significant than our politicians make them out to be. Best wishes and our hearts go out to your fellow country men.

Can't agree more. For what it's worth, lots of thanks to you all.

I am off work this week , and the major news media at least for last couple of days, has been more focused on the earthquake. Much of this is probably because the media is able to get in there and obtain images and do stories. The Burma disaster seems to be getting less press possibly because the repressive Burmese government won't allow the outsiders in there. I have sympathy for both of these terrible disasters. Those poor people, so many of them.

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Just checking in on our friends across the Pacific since the news here has no coverage at all about what is happening in China regarding the earthquake. How can something so disatrous drop off of the news the way that it has in the occidental world. Hope all is getting better and would sure like to hear how China is coping.

The quake is over and the emphasis has shifted to the problems it created. Temporary housing accomodation is provided by Government, plans are being formulated to rebuild the affected areas, even relocating residents of whole village where the area was so devastated as to make it impossible to rebuild. The major headline about 10 days ago was the threat of water overflow caused by landslide blocking a river near the quake area, creating an artificial lake. The military was depoyed to dig several drainages to release the water. Residents in the down stream areas were evacuted as those villages may be completely drown under the water. So far, the exercise has been a success. Another headline was the total collapse of a school building burying all school children during the quake and no one survive, whereas a nearby school stood intact and all children survive. Those survived were sent to another area where they can continue with their education all showing big smiles on TV, especially their parents. There was an uproar about non-compliance with building standard because these buildings are supposed to withstand quake up to level 6. Engineers from Hong Kong confirmed the collapsed building was not up to minimum standard after visiting the site. Parents of the dead children alleged this was a result of corruption, they gathered at the site to mourn their children which was widely reported in TV and other news media, at least here in Hong Kong. News came out last weekend (in fact from the U.S.) that a person in China who ran a website showing footage of those parents and their anger was arrested. but this has yet to be confirmed. There is also rumour that some of the parents of the dead school children were arrested. We will have to wait and see how much truth is in there.

Thank you. We continue to think of the people lost and the devastation.