One has to wonder what exactly Asia has done to anger the violent Old Testament God recently, as the damage from Cyclone Nargis and now the 7.8 magnitude earthquake striking China have left the continent stretched to the breaking point.
The early headlines from China are grim, with the lone exception that reports that Pandas are ok. Over 12,000 people are reported dead, and a chemical plant in Shifang collapsed and sent 80 tons of Ammonia into the ground.
In addition to the appalling number above, some 20,000 additional Chinese are believed to be missing, a statistic which turns more grim every hour that they don’t turn up. The rescue operation has been hindered so far by bad weather, as a steady rain has been falling on the Sichuan province, not causing a major obstruction, but still slowing the pace of work that is absolutely time-critical.
China, which had been focusing on preparations for the summer Olympics, has had the media spotlight shifted onto the disaster. Thousands of videos captured on mobile phones and still images are flooding onto the censored Chinese version of the internet from a region where over 80% of all structures have been destroyed. The Chinese Army has responded by sending 50,000 troops to the area, but their progress must come at a cautious pace– aftershocks have been over a 6 magnitude so far, and have been derailing trains.
You can watch some coverage of the devastation the earthquake caused below
译文:
中国地震：情况不容乐观
不知是不是亚洲惹怒了旧约圣经之神，在热带风暴Nargis袭击过后，中国又遭受里氏7.8级地震,使这块大陆几乎被分裂。
地震发生不久，从中国传来的消息不容乐观，只有一条消息还算欣慰：中国大熊猫安然无恙。超过12000人确认死亡，什邡的一个化工厂发生倒塌，造成80吨的液氨泄露。
除了上文提到的惊人数字外，还有20000余人失踪，时间一分一秒的过去，而失踪人员的不被发现，使得情况不容乐观。救援队伍又受到了天气的影响。四川省下起绵绵不断的雨，虽没造成重大阻碍，但也在这关键时刻减慢了救援步伐。
中国本一直把全部精力放在夏季奥林匹克运动会上，现在把所有新闻媒体的焦点放在这次救灾上。用手机拍摄的数以万计的视频和图片涌入中国网站，给大家展示了80%的房屋都倒塌的灾区画面。中国军队已派兵50000人赶赴灾区，但他们一定要谨慎行事--目前为止发生多次6级以上余震，造成众多火车出轨。
你可以在下面的视频中看看地震所造成的重大毁坏