Since I’ve been a person that has experienced two major quakes in California, I can tell you this is an absolute nightmare. And the destruction obviously was nothing like what is
being reported there.
A massive earthquake struck central China on Monday, killing more than 8,500 people, trapping nearly 900 students under the rubble of their school and spilling ammonia from a chemical plant, state media reported.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake was among the worst to strike China in decades, devastating a hilly region of small cities and towns in Sichuan and nearby provinces. The official Xinhua News Agency said 8,533 people died in Sichuan and dozens of other deaths were reported elsewhere.
Xinhua said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan county in Sichuan province after the quake, raising fears the overall death toll could increase sharply.
A chemical plant collapsed in Shifang city, to the northeast of the quake’s epicenter, burying hundreds of people and sending more than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia leaking from the site, state media report..read on
译文:
发生在中国的大规模地震
过去在加利福尼亚，我曾亲身经历过两次大地震，对此，我可以说的只有一句：这绝对是一场噩梦。但是，任何一次地震都没有像这次报道的一样造成如此严重的破坏效果。
据中国媒体报道：星期一，大规模的地震袭击了中国中部，死亡人数多达8500人，大约有900名学生被困于坍塌学校的瓦砾之下。另外，地震还造成某一化学工厂的液态氨泄露。
此次7.8级的地震是中国近几十年来最严重的几次地震之一。在四川，许多小城市和城镇的山区均遭破坏，临近省区也受到较大影响。据新华社官方报道，四川地区已有8533人死亡，其它地区也有很多人因此而亡。
新华社还说：地震过后，四川北川县有80%的楼房倒塌，预计死亡人数还会迅速上升，群众对此恐慌不已。
中国媒体还报道：什邡市的一所化学厂位于震中的东南方，也在地震中坍塌，数百人被埋于其中，80余吨液氨泄漏。