Sezhuan Earthquake update, one week later

There have been several strong aftershocks, the latest, about 6 on the Richter scale, yesterday afternoon, 200 kms north of Chengdu (capital of Sezhuan province). Not sure if related or not, but 200 relief workers have been buried in a mudslide. (It has been raining in the area.) People are still scared and skittish, one week later.

Today China began 3 days of national mourning. Flags are at half mast. All entertainment has been cancelled, bars closed and online games and the like banned. At 2.28 o'clock 1.3 billion people observed 3 minutes of silence. Sirens wailed across the country (including at a neighbouring school where I live). Cars stopped in the streets and drivers either honked their horns or got out and stood next to their vehicles in silence. There was blanket news coverage of the event, as there has been of the aftermath of the quake.

At Tianamen Square, a small contingent of soldiers was there to observe the silence. Afterwards, the square filled with people, who apparently spontaneously began shouting "Zhongguo jiayou, Sichuan jiayou" (China, be strong, be brave, Sezhuan, be strong, be brave). You might think this was an orchestrated event, but I think that would be far from the truth. Patriotic feelings are running high here, and in the face of a catastrophic event like this, any country will pull together and show solidarity. China is no different. The outpourings of grief shown on television are real. Even news readers could barely compose themselves in the face of events. (For example, apparently around 7,000 schools collapsed, killing a lot of children.)

To put this into perspective (without wanting to belitle this event), 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attack. 10 times as many are already known to have died in this quake. That number will probably double.

Here are some photos of the quake: http://tinyurl.com/6poy4c (There's plenty more out there...)