hey all,
sorry for the mysterious disappearance. not a lot has been going on recently. although, it has rained for the last day and a half like i have never seen it rain before. when i woke up saturday morning, the sky was pouring rain down like a fire hose. it slowed down to a light rain in the afternoon, but then it picked up again a bit later. and it is getting very muggy. occasionally we have a clear day or two, but mostly it's just unbearable heat.
sad news. almost all of the UW group has pulled their support from the NGO that we had going. we had personality issues with a local couple that we made the mistake of taking on as partners. they ended up threatening a couple of the members of the group with being arrested and just generally are not being very helpful (actively impeding our efforts at some points). for all those who donated, thank you. your money will still be put to good use. since all of it was coming through the UW group and was completely controlled by us, we will take the remainder and put it towards another deserving, local NGO. on the positive side, we did accomplish a couple worthwhile projects before everything went south. we managed to airlift in 100 tents to a really remote area in need.
now, it's the final stretch leading up to finals (yes, we are all still in school). we'll be out around July 15th or so. then i'm putting aside a month to work on my research project up in JZG. after all that, i am heading home. i was originally planning to take a trip through Russia and then do some rock-climbing in Europe, but i've now decided that i want to spend the rest of my summer in my native northwest forests and mountains. i'm thinking of doing a backpacking trip with the whole family. we haven't done something like that in years.
my love to all,
-DJ
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Plodding along
Death toll: 60,000 people
Things have been progressing well with the non-profit. We’ve gotten a lot of details hashed out so far. We’ve all been pretty stressed simply because the pace of the whole thing moves so fast. We had a single weekend to get the website up and running, so that people would have a place to visit for information or to donate. Now that that has been finished, my work at least, has slowed down. I’m currently working on a facebook group (quick, everybody join) and we’re hoping to put together a benefit concert at home. Those are my two projects right now.
As for news in the city, there has been an official warning to be wary of rats. Because of damage done to buildings, the habitat that these little rodents buggers hang out in has been increased. I’ve already heard of one person being bitten in broad daylight as he was walking down the street. The fear is that these rats may carry diseases of some sort and spread them to the population. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
-archr
Things have been progressing well with the non-profit. We’ve gotten a lot of details hashed out so far. We’ve all been pretty stressed simply because the pace of the whole thing moves so fast. We had a single weekend to get the website up and running, so that people would have a place to visit for information or to donate. Now that that has been finished, my work at least, has slowed down. I’m currently working on a facebook group (quick, everybody join) and we’re hoping to put together a benefit concert at home. Those are my two projects right now.
As for news in the city, there has been an official warning to be wary of rats. Because of damage done to buildings, the habitat that these little rodents buggers hang out in has been increased. I’ve already heard of one person being bitten in broad daylight as he was walking down the street. The fear is that these rats may carry diseases of some sort and spread them to the population. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
-archr
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
We're up and running!!!
Good news,
our site is now up and running. if you're interested in adding to our cause, please go to chinaearthquakeaid.org and donate now. everything is pretty simple and every dollar you give us enables us to provide a substantial amount of direct help to earthquake victims. right now, there's a large focus on finding enough tents to house everyone displaced from their home (millions). we already have some very clear immediate objectives. the site should talk about this in greater detail. please help.
peace,
archr
our site is now up and running. if you're interested in adding to our cause, please go to chinaearthquakeaid.org and donate now. everything is pretty simple and every dollar you give us enables us to provide a substantial amount of direct help to earthquake victims. right now, there's a large focus on finding enough tents to house everyone displaced from their home (millions). we already have some very clear immediate objectives. the site should talk about this in greater detail. please help.
peace,
archr
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Startup
Well,
It’s 2:17am and I’m still working on the website for our soon to be created NGO (I don’t think we have any kind of official status yet. I’ll have to ask about that tomorrow), China Earthquake Aid. Like I said in my last post, we want to have the site up and running by Monday. That means plenty of late nights for the website designers. Well, not really. I was going to be up late anyways. But it makes me look better if it sounds tedious.
Moving on, so I think we’re going to have to officially declare the monsoon season open. About an hour ago, it was raining like I haven’t ever seen it rain here in Chengdu. That stuff was coming down in sheets. It was blowing in horizontally through the windows. And it was the whole nine yards too… thunder and lightning. Very impressive display of nature’s fury. There were some here worried that fires might have started somewhere within the city. Probably not true though. Though the air did smell rather faintly of smoke(when one stood on the roof of the dorms… which is entirely legal mind you). On a more serious note, this bodes rather poorly for all those caught outside in this stuff. I’m sure that the make-shift tent cities that have been forming even here in Chengdu to house refuges are going to be pure mud tomorrow. Let’s hope that this is nothing more than the front end of the season and that the heavy rains et al will hold out for another few weeks.
Yours,
archr
It’s 2:17am and I’m still working on the website for our soon to be created NGO (I don’t think we have any kind of official status yet. I’ll have to ask about that tomorrow), China Earthquake Aid. Like I said in my last post, we want to have the site up and running by Monday. That means plenty of late nights for the website designers. Well, not really. I was going to be up late anyways. But it makes me look better if it sounds tedious.
Moving on, so I think we’re going to have to officially declare the monsoon season open. About an hour ago, it was raining like I haven’t ever seen it rain here in Chengdu. That stuff was coming down in sheets. It was blowing in horizontally through the windows. And it was the whole nine yards too… thunder and lightning. Very impressive display of nature’s fury. There were some here worried that fires might have started somewhere within the city. Probably not true though. Though the air did smell rather faintly of smoke(when one stood on the roof of the dorms… which is entirely legal mind you). On a more serious note, this bodes rather poorly for all those caught outside in this stuff. I’m sure that the make-shift tent cities that have been forming even here in Chengdu to house refuges are going to be pure mud tomorrow. Let’s hope that this is nothing more than the front end of the season and that the heavy rains et al will hold out for another few weeks.
Yours,
archr
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Relief efforts
Death toll: 22,000 people
Estimated death toll: 50,000
Alright,
Some interesting new stuff is happening around here. We’ll start with the not good.
Dam update: so they have released information on the dam to the general public. They are saying that everything is entirely fine. However, out TA’s contacts have said that the danger is being a little understated. Again, understandable, as no one wants full scale panic. When I say full-scale panic, I’m talking about multiple millions evacuating an area with damaged infrastructure all at once. Probably not a pretty picture. All of us here are just crossing our fingers, hoping that nothing happens, and diverting our attention elsewhere.
One of the major concerns right now is the number of dead bodies that are coming in from Du jiang yan and other affected areas. A large number of them are being stored in the northern-most parts of the city and apparently they don’t have the resources to deal with all of them. Issue number one is that they can’t burn all of the bodies because they haven’t been identified by family yet. Secondly, they don’t have enough ice or body bags to prevent the spread of disease that inevitably happens when bodies are left on their own for too long. At least, that’s the fear. They’re not having problems yet. Just looking into the potential problems of the future.
So the only other big piece of news of note right now (that I can remember) involves the University of Washington students who stayed behind, of which I am one. We have decided to try to start an NGO to raise funds for the relief effort. It’s called China Earthquake Aid. Since the Chinese are not allowing direct foreign help (no money is allowed to change hands), the purpose of our organization is to create a “funnel” between a potential donor and a growing number of domestic relief NGO’s. The domestic NGO’s call us and tell us what they need. Example: one hundred large tents. That’s a request that we’ve actually already had. Sadly, we don’t yet have our funds transfer account thinger set up. Then we gather the funds, buy the supplies, and pass them directly on to them. As soon as we get the bank account stuff set up, we can start accepting donations. This should happen sometime around Monday evening our time (Sunday morning state-side). If you’re willing to help with a donation, please stay tuned. I will definitely be posting the info when I have it.
And PLEASE, if you can think of any companies/institutions/organizations that might be interested in donating, talk to them on our behalf or pass their contact information on to me and we can talk to them.
Estimated death toll: 50,000
Alright,
Some interesting new stuff is happening around here. We’ll start with the not good.
Dam update: so they have released information on the dam to the general public. They are saying that everything is entirely fine. However, out TA’s contacts have said that the danger is being a little understated. Again, understandable, as no one wants full scale panic. When I say full-scale panic, I’m talking about multiple millions evacuating an area with damaged infrastructure all at once. Probably not a pretty picture. All of us here are just crossing our fingers, hoping that nothing happens, and diverting our attention elsewhere.
One of the major concerns right now is the number of dead bodies that are coming in from Du jiang yan and other affected areas. A large number of them are being stored in the northern-most parts of the city and apparently they don’t have the resources to deal with all of them. Issue number one is that they can’t burn all of the bodies because they haven’t been identified by family yet. Secondly, they don’t have enough ice or body bags to prevent the spread of disease that inevitably happens when bodies are left on their own for too long. At least, that’s the fear. They’re not having problems yet. Just looking into the potential problems of the future.
So the only other big piece of news of note right now (that I can remember) involves the University of Washington students who stayed behind, of which I am one. We have decided to try to start an NGO to raise funds for the relief effort. It’s called China Earthquake Aid. Since the Chinese are not allowing direct foreign help (no money is allowed to change hands), the purpose of our organization is to create a “funnel” between a potential donor and a growing number of domestic relief NGO’s. The domestic NGO’s call us and tell us what they need. Example: one hundred large tents. That’s a request that we’ve actually already had. Sadly, we don’t yet have our funds transfer account thinger set up. Then we gather the funds, buy the supplies, and pass them directly on to them. As soon as we get the bank account stuff set up, we can start accepting donations. This should happen sometime around Monday evening our time (Sunday morning state-side). If you’re willing to help with a donation, please stay tuned. I will definitely be posting the info when I have it.
And PLEASE, if you can think of any companies/institutions/organizations that might be interested in donating, talk to them on our behalf or pass their contact information on to me and we can talk to them.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
New Developments
Firstly, I’d like to apologize. I had no idea that the blog settings didn’t allow for anonymous comments. That has been remedied. Please feel free to leave comments, questions, or concerns.
Revised death toll (NY Times): 14, 866
Alright,
There have been some really interesting developments today. I’ll tackle each one by one. The short of it is that our whole group is supposed to be evacuating Chengdu. 6 of us have decided to waive liability with the University of Washington (My university. The program that I’m involved in is through them). New developments have made the situation seem a bit more dangerous than those desk-jockeys in Seattle are able to handle. As for the developments, the sad thing is that I don’t think that the majority of the population has any idea what’s going on. The local news has denied the existence of at least the first two, but our TA has contacts who filled us in on what’s actually happening behind the scenes. I hate to ever point fingers, but it does seem like things are being covered up here.
Before I get into the new developments I thought I’d give a recent quake update. There have been a few tremors so far today. All of them were rather small and insignificant and nobody even left buildings. We do have updates on the damage. Du jiang yan, mentioned yesterday as likely having suffered severe damage, has been leveled. Friends who saw the destruction first-hand have confirmed that there is not a single building standing anywhere within the city. The body count for this CITY alone seems to be around 8,000 people.
New development:
Today, the whole city (Chengdu, where I am) suffered a bit of widespread fear and panic. It was reported (apparently in err, we now learn) that the city’s water had been deemed undrinkable by officials. There was supposedly a fear that an upstream chemical factory had blown up (that part is true), allowing its contents to leak into the nearby reservoir. As this reservoir is one of those that serves the city of Chengdu, many were afraid that water from the faucet contained at least traces of those leaked chemicals. What followed was pretty much a city-wide free for all grab n go for water. By the time myself and my friends had heard about this new development, not a single bottle of water could be bought anywhere. I went far and wide, as did a couple people that I knew. Not one of us found even a single one. I ended up buying nine bottles of juice and scavenging a half-full bottle from Roberts (our communal UW computer room, the official rally point in case of further catastrophe, and my usual haunt). I bought a couple packages of ramen noodles and I busted out about half of the mac n’ cheeses that I’d brought with me from the States (I knew I’d really appreciate those). I went home and rounded up most of my backpacking gear, promptly dropped it conveniently out of reach at a friend’s house, and am now sitting in Roberts (I live here… really). We’ve since found out that the water is drinkable and that the whole scare was just the result of a couple @*$^@&’s spreading phone text messages based on incomplete information. That, or the local officials aren’t owning up to reality.
Don’t worry, I have my water filter…
Development #2:
Here’s a big one. There is a very large dam near Du jiang yan. Apparently, it has a crack in it. Our TA knows someone who works in Du jiang yan. He (our TA’s friend) saw this crack first-hand. This is the one that I’m really angry about, and the real reason behind my feeling that some things are being covered up here. There has been nothing in the news to warn people of this. I can understand if they want to prevent a serious panic. But I sincerely hope that they are working at full capacity to get things stabilized. We heard from this same guy that they are trying to let off all the water behind the dam. But they can only move at 150%. I’ve heard the lake behind this thing is monstrous (third largest damn in China). Let your imagination fill in the rest. According to our TA, if the dam breaks, Chengdu will not be affected (for those worried about my personal well-being). However, it will undoubtedly sweep downriver, doing massive damage along the way. This would of course only add to the destruction. Likely as not, it will hit Du jiang yan first, burying both those still trapped and those attempting a rescue in a massive amount of water.
edit: the main Chinese news agencies here are reporting about the damn. looks like they've got a firm handle on what's happening there.
Development #3:
Actually, this is so much a development as it is a realization. One of the major problems facing survivors after a major catastrophe is of course the rather poor conditions of the survivors camps. Other than food and water shortages, and issues providing shelter for everyone, disease can cause quite a problem. A few occasional survivors have started trickling in from around Du jiang yan. The worry is that they could carry disease from the quake areas into the much more densely populated urban area of Chengdu. I’ve heard that in at least some of the quake areas, the bodies of people pulled from the rubble are all put together in the same room out of the way. If this is true, then the bodies are not being properly disposed of and if left alone long enough, they could cause outbreaks of disease.
Also rather interesting, the entire UW group of students, myself included, had a meeting today to discuss our options for evacuation. It is official. The UW wants all of us to leave. However, well over half of the students have opted to remain behind, for various reasons. Some want to finish their studies. Others simply find it too troublesome to have to pick up and move. Myself, I kind of want to see how this whole thing plays out. So, what happens if we stay? Basically, we have to sign a waiver saying that we forfeit all liability coverage from the UW. They are no longer responsible for our safety. It is true that this doesn’t seem like a very wise decision on the outside. But we still have not only the support of Sichuan University, but also the American Embassy. For those that are doubtlessly beginning to feel worried about me, I would like to mention that other than the fact that we have two powerful institutions (both in better positions to help than the UW), none of us here feels that the present situation necessitates an evacuation. The level at which a university decides to pull its students and the level at which a real danger is present are entirely different. I don’t feel threatened right now. So please try not to worry. If there is a serious threat, I am prepared and I will move.
Update (9:30pm): tremor just shook up the building. We’ve been seeing these all day. Everyone’s pretty used to it now. Earlier, I was in a friend’s apartment on the 6th or 7th floor (sorry, wasn’t counting. I gotta get over to the swimming pool or do some running. Chengdu just ain’t that good for a body). I could feel even the slightest tremor while I was up there. the tall buildings around here are amazingly receptive to movement.
Well, signing off for the night to sleep… on the concrete floor of my cave, the room previously known as Roberts. I’ll be on for most of the day tomorrow using skype as well as facebook. Feel free to look me up. Good night all.
Yours,
Safe,
DJ
Revised death toll (NY Times): 14, 866
Alright,
There have been some really interesting developments today. I’ll tackle each one by one. The short of it is that our whole group is supposed to be evacuating Chengdu. 6 of us have decided to waive liability with the University of Washington (My university. The program that I’m involved in is through them). New developments have made the situation seem a bit more dangerous than those desk-jockeys in Seattle are able to handle. As for the developments, the sad thing is that I don’t think that the majority of the population has any idea what’s going on. The local news has denied the existence of at least the first two, but our TA has contacts who filled us in on what’s actually happening behind the scenes. I hate to ever point fingers, but it does seem like things are being covered up here.
Before I get into the new developments I thought I’d give a recent quake update. There have been a few tremors so far today. All of them were rather small and insignificant and nobody even left buildings. We do have updates on the damage. Du jiang yan, mentioned yesterday as likely having suffered severe damage, has been leveled. Friends who saw the destruction first-hand have confirmed that there is not a single building standing anywhere within the city. The body count for this CITY alone seems to be around 8,000 people.
New development:
Today, the whole city (Chengdu, where I am) suffered a bit of widespread fear and panic. It was reported (apparently in err, we now learn) that the city’s water had been deemed undrinkable by officials. There was supposedly a fear that an upstream chemical factory had blown up (that part is true), allowing its contents to leak into the nearby reservoir. As this reservoir is one of those that serves the city of Chengdu, many were afraid that water from the faucet contained at least traces of those leaked chemicals. What followed was pretty much a city-wide free for all grab n go for water. By the time myself and my friends had heard about this new development, not a single bottle of water could be bought anywhere. I went far and wide, as did a couple people that I knew. Not one of us found even a single one. I ended up buying nine bottles of juice and scavenging a half-full bottle from Roberts (our communal UW computer room, the official rally point in case of further catastrophe, and my usual haunt). I bought a couple packages of ramen noodles and I busted out about half of the mac n’ cheeses that I’d brought with me from the States (I knew I’d really appreciate those). I went home and rounded up most of my backpacking gear, promptly dropped it conveniently out of reach at a friend’s house, and am now sitting in Roberts (I live here… really). We’ve since found out that the water is drinkable and that the whole scare was just the result of a couple @*$^@&’s spreading phone text messages based on incomplete information. That, or the local officials aren’t owning up to reality.
Don’t worry, I have my water filter…
Development #2:
Here’s a big one. There is a very large dam near Du jiang yan. Apparently, it has a crack in it. Our TA knows someone who works in Du jiang yan. He (our TA’s friend) saw this crack first-hand. This is the one that I’m really angry about, and the real reason behind my feeling that some things are being covered up here. There has been nothing in the news to warn people of this. I can understand if they want to prevent a serious panic. But I sincerely hope that they are working at full capacity to get things stabilized. We heard from this same guy that they are trying to let off all the water behind the dam. But they can only move at 150%. I’ve heard the lake behind this thing is monstrous (third largest damn in China). Let your imagination fill in the rest. According to our TA, if the dam breaks, Chengdu will not be affected (for those worried about my personal well-being). However, it will undoubtedly sweep downriver, doing massive damage along the way. This would of course only add to the destruction. Likely as not, it will hit Du jiang yan first, burying both those still trapped and those attempting a rescue in a massive amount of water.
edit: the main Chinese news agencies here are reporting about the damn. looks like they've got a firm handle on what's happening there.
Development #3:
Actually, this is so much a development as it is a realization. One of the major problems facing survivors after a major catastrophe is of course the rather poor conditions of the survivors camps. Other than food and water shortages, and issues providing shelter for everyone, disease can cause quite a problem. A few occasional survivors have started trickling in from around Du jiang yan. The worry is that they could carry disease from the quake areas into the much more densely populated urban area of Chengdu. I’ve heard that in at least some of the quake areas, the bodies of people pulled from the rubble are all put together in the same room out of the way. If this is true, then the bodies are not being properly disposed of and if left alone long enough, they could cause outbreaks of disease.
Also rather interesting, the entire UW group of students, myself included, had a meeting today to discuss our options for evacuation. It is official. The UW wants all of us to leave. However, well over half of the students have opted to remain behind, for various reasons. Some want to finish their studies. Others simply find it too troublesome to have to pick up and move. Myself, I kind of want to see how this whole thing plays out. So, what happens if we stay? Basically, we have to sign a waiver saying that we forfeit all liability coverage from the UW. They are no longer responsible for our safety. It is true that this doesn’t seem like a very wise decision on the outside. But we still have not only the support of Sichuan University, but also the American Embassy. For those that are doubtlessly beginning to feel worried about me, I would like to mention that other than the fact that we have two powerful institutions (both in better positions to help than the UW), none of us here feels that the present situation necessitates an evacuation. The level at which a university decides to pull its students and the level at which a real danger is present are entirely different. I don’t feel threatened right now. So please try not to worry. If there is a serious threat, I am prepared and I will move.
Update (9:30pm): tremor just shook up the building. We’ve been seeing these all day. Everyone’s pretty used to it now. Earlier, I was in a friend’s apartment on the 6th or 7th floor (sorry, wasn’t counting. I gotta get over to the swimming pool or do some running. Chengdu just ain’t that good for a body). I could feel even the slightest tremor while I was up there. the tall buildings around here are amazingly receptive to movement.
Well, signing off for the night to sleep… on the concrete floor of my cave, the room previously known as Roberts. I’ll be on for most of the day tomorrow using skype as well as facebook. Feel free to look me up. Good night all.
Yours,
Safe,
DJ
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Earthquake in China: extended version
Well,
I figured that I owe everyone a slightly better, more detailed post than my last. I wasn’t sure if the dorm caretakers were going to come kick me out or not. We were supposed to have another big aftershock about three hours ago, but it never came. Probably a good thing.
Well, I’ll start from the beginning. I was in the communal computer rooms in the dorms when the first one hit. It took me about two or three second to figure out what was going on. I remember the big earthquake that hit the Northwest in 2000 or 2001 or whenever, so I had a decent idea of what to expect. It wasn’t gentle, but it wasn’t bad enough that I immediately thought the building was going to come down. When I first came intot he hallway, there was group of three frightened/slightly confused girls heading towards the stairs. One of them was a French friend of mine and the other two were Korean. One of the girls looked like she was damn near in shock and was being led by the other two. I guess they must all have been pretty scared or rattled, because as soon as they saw me, they stopped and asked what we ought to do. I told them to head straight for the stairs and get outside. I debated whether I ought to stay and help others, but I figured everybody had a pretty decent idea what the best idea was. So I headed outside at a run too.
When I got out there, everyone was just standing around. A good half of the people were looking pretty upset. The Koreans took it hardest. They’re kind of a melodramatic bunch, for the most part. They’re known for love drama tv series involving lots of love triangles, betrayals, and at least one death per episode. To be expected. The Japanese were sitting around bored. That’s one way to solve the age-old problem of differentiating between Japanese and Chinese and Koreans. If their standing around calmly during an earthquake smoking… Japanese. If they’re just staring… Chinese. If they’re going into mild hysterics… Korean. The Europeans and Americans were mostly just standing around. Slightly worried, but then most everyone was a little worried. Some people were just annoyed at the interruption to their day.
After the first (which was the biggest of the only two to hit so far), some went inside. It started with a trickle of Japanese and westerners, then turned into a steady stream after a minute or so. But the majority still stayed outside, including the caretakers, hereafter referred to as Fu wu yuan (foo-woo-yen). I was one of the ones that went inside. I had left my lap-top sitting on a chair on the third floor, in open sight. I kind of like the convenience that a personal lap-top affords and as much as I like to contribute to the common good, I’d rather it remain in my possession (and my dad would probably agree, seeing as how he paid for it).
As soon as I got upstairs, I shut down my computer and hopped online. Very soon after however, a second tremor rocked the building. It was smaller than the first, but I didn’t wait to find out if it was gonna stay that way. I grabbed my lap-top and headed outside. I figured I could power it up and dork around with stuff on battery power. Kind of a good idea, because we were destined for a whole lotta waiting. I got quite a few jealous stares for having something to amuse myself with.
After this second shake up, the Fu wu yuan closed down the building. At first no one was allowed back in. but after a short while, they began to let in people that needed to use the bathroom. I spent about an hour and a half playing on my comp until the battery dies on me. A friend had adopted the excuse of needing to use the bathroom to get into the building, and had then gone and gotten online to see what was in the news. As I said, my battery had died, so I decided to follow suit. I went up to the computer room and hopped online. I shot off a quick mass e-mail to my rents and a few others that I knew would be concerned about me (thanks Chris, ha ha). But I was quickly kicked out again as the Fu wu yuan made a sweep of the building. So started a very long night…
After about another hour spent outside, the Fu wu yuan brought out some coke, sprite, water, and juice for everyone waiting outside. They also took all of the benches from every floors common area and put those outside for people to sit on. After another 30 minutes or so, two huge boxes of noodle bowls (I hate these things) materialized and people started tucking in. they were gone before everyone had a chance to grab one. They also put crackers out, but these things are hideously nasty, so were mostly left untouched. A friend went up to his room and grabbed a guitar and five of us sat around playing guitar and talking about all that was going on. People from my UW exchange program stopped by every now and then just to see what was going on. Guess everyone figured that the dorms were the unofficial rally point during emergencies. This was actually rather helpful, as they all brought differing perspectives on the situation from their respective places of residence.
For those with apartments above the 6 floor (most everyone) the quake was a pretty frightening experience. Chengdu has never once recorded a single earthquake (from what I’ve heard), so the local buildings aren’t exactly built for this sort of thing. They swayed so badly at the higher elevations that people were hardly able to walk down hallways. I’m frankly quite surprised that no buildings have fallen down (that I’ve yet seen or heard about). There are some old brick buildings next to the dorms that really should have fallen down, given the obviously shoddy construction methods common in China. But thankfully, no one was seriously hurt in our local area. The worst that I’ve seen was an old woman with a head bandage that we saw when we went searching for a restaurant that wasn’t closed. She must have fallen down and whacked her head on something. The only other injury that I saw was a Korean girl whose leg looked like it had been thoroughly mauled by some sort of small, furry, ferocious animal. She was limping around with the help of some of her friends.
As the evening wore on, people started to realize that we weren’t going to be allowed back in for the night. Blankets and pillows and sweaters started to appear. Everyone was gathering on the lawn right outside the front gates of the dorms. It looked more like a festival (as multiple people remarked on) than a mini earthquake refuge camp. As we hadn’t seen any real damage and had only the news that people occasionally dug up to go on, the mood was pretty light all night. Some were a little annoyed at not being allowed back in, though it’s no real big surprise that they weren’t. almost everyone was bored. I spotted at least three guitars, a couple games of cards, a game of mah jong (this is a horrible miss-spelling of the actual word by the way), a soccer ball, and a whole camp of people playing with computers and PSP’s huddled around the power outlets for electric scooters.
We all slept pretty soundly up until around 12:00am or 1:00am or so. That’s when it started raining. Everybody quickly headed inside. Nobody really knew what to do after that. Some set up their sleeping stuff in the main lobby of the dorm building. Some clustered underneath the little bike shelter, despite the wet bedding that undoubtedly resulted. A few people (I would be in this category) snuck off into nearby rooms. For everyone except those with a mattress, it was a terribly sleepless night. After it stopped raining, a large number of people moved back outside onto the hard, wet pavement. I heard that around 6:00am or so, there a was another mass movement to go inside. Whether it was sanctioned by the Fu wu yuan or not, I have no idea. I was asleep at the time… comfortable in my warm, albeit relatively unsafely located bed. One other guy joined me after this second migration.
Sad for him, we were awoken around 9:00am by the Fu wu yuan knocking on every door. Apparently, they had heard that a third quake was expected to hit within the hour. So, we all got up and headed back outside, careful to bring supplies for another long wait. But that third one never happened… at least not yet. Personally, I think this whole thing is over. We have felt a couple (maybe?) minor tremors since, but only one was big enough to warrant unanimous acknowledgement.
so, what sort of damage has been done? I’m sure everyone is very interested in the answer to this question. Everyone in the group with ties to a college or university in the States has gotten offers from local news group to do interviews. I immediately deleted my own, but it seems like everyone is jumping to be the first with in-depth coverage. Sadly for them, I think everyone will just have to be patient and wait for the Chinese to sort this mess out. They’re not overly tolerant of independent reporting here, to say the least.
The truth is, what I’ve got to go is mostly hearsay or news that every already has access to. Last night, the TA for our UW exchange program contacted us with some preliminary information. He’s always glued to a computer when things are going down. When he made a report of his findings (last night around 11:00pm or so), the official death toll was 7,000 (this has since been revised. See below). almost all of that was outside of Chengdu (my city of residence). But there were about 75 deaths even here in Chengdu. I heard about a few people killed by falling glass in the fancy, modern shopping district that’s well known locally. Lots of overly decorated buildings and nowhere to run. Pretty much a deathtrap.
The low number of deaths here in Chengdu is very, very surprising. Here’s why. There are two areas that were hit much harder than all the rest. Chengdu is roughly the same distance from the epicenter as both of these areas (a friend ahs informed me that the BBC currently has an article with an attached map showing the relative locations of all the places I talk about below. Check there for a reference guide). The first, a county to the northeast called Bei chuan (bay-chwan), accounts for a huge number of the deaths recorded so far. It’s been widely reported that over 80% of all the buildings in this county have been completely obliterated. The second county is called Wen chwan (wun-chwan). Again, there are large numbers of people dead or missing within this and the other county. One city alone, Mian Zhu (as it looks), is reported to have over 10,000 trapped or missing. It’s also worth noting that a city called Du jiang yan (doo-jiang-yen), the same place where I was hired to spend a night drinking and hanging out (for those that know the story), has also suffered serious damage. We don’t yet have numbers, but those should come out within the next few days.
The official death count for today has been elevated to 10,000 people. Another 17,000 are either reported missing or believed to be trapped. This is the worst earthquake that China has seen since 1976.
Update (3:15pm): we just had another little tremor. The interesting thing is that it happened within half an hour of the same time as the first one yesterday. Probably just coincidence. We all evacuated quickly and efficiently. The whole thing was over before almost anyone was out of the building.
Update (3:20pm): just had another. It was only a single shake. A friend just found out that there have been 313 recorded tremors so far. I don’t know what counts as a tremor. But there it is. Also, the official policy is now that you are allowed to enter the building as you wish, but if a tremor starts, you are required to immediately exit.
They have mobilized around 50,000 regular army to roll into theses areas. Right now, they are expecting at least 17,000 people to be trapped somewhere amidst the rubble. So, given Chengdu’s close proximity to the epicenter, we got off extremely lucky at only 75 dead (don’t worry mom). I’m sure more details will emerge in the next few days.
Well, in light of all this tragedy, I’d like to post a few anecdotes in an attempt to lighten the mood. Not laughing is not living.
Update (3:55pm): another small series of shakes. Didn’t really go anywhere though. Here’s an interesting fact. Did you know that if what you’re experiencing is nothing more than a tremor, then it’s actually safer to be inside. This is because the first thing to go in a building is the stairways, hence running up and down them is also running through a danger zone over and over. Though the best strategy is to simply stay outside…
Update (4:00pm): as of 1:30pm, the number of people missing within the county of Wen chuan has moved up to 60,000 people. From the wording, we’re unsure whether this means they simply forgot to check in or whether they are believed to be trapped. On a positive note, the total number of people believed to be dead has been adjusted down… 9,219. something to be thankful for.
A friend of mine was in his 26th story apartment when the first quake hit yesterday. As I said above, people at that height were hardly able to walk because of the swaying of the building. He did however make it out of the building. On a side note, he told me that the outside of his building had a huge crack running along it. I haven’t sent this with my own eyes to verify, but he is a rather trustworthy sort. The funny part is that he was in such a hurry to get out that when he got downstairs, he was in his boxers, his dog held safely underneath his arm. Luckily, he grabbed a pair of shorts on the way out. Someone loaned him a shirt too.
The second story was told to me by one of my Swedish friends. A little bit of back-story is necessary here, I think. As is well known, Japan receives a huge number of earthquakes every year. On average, they get over 80 a day, though only one of those is ever strong enough to be noticed by the casual observer. Needless to say, earthquakes are a normal part of life for most Japanese. So anyway… my friend. He lives on the fourth floor. As he was evacuating for the first quake, he happened to look outside onto the roof (the roof is on the same level as the fourth floor and the access point is right next to the stairwell). There was an elderly Japanese man just standing there on the roof nonchalantly, smoking his cigarette and laughing at everyone as they ran down the stairs.
On a similar note, during the first quake that hit today, as everyone was running full tilt out of the building (bearing in mind that the tremors had stopped before I’d even exited myself), the Japanese students were already walking calmly back in. they looked rather bored.
I’ll keep in touch. Please feel free to post comments. I would like anyone wishing to contact me to please use only the comment section of my blog. I’d prefer to not have 20 e-mails when I get online tomorrow. Thanks all.
Peace,
DJ
“I guess you should just watch the Japanese; if they look worried or run outside you follow; if they are calm just chill out” –my mom
I figured that I owe everyone a slightly better, more detailed post than my last. I wasn’t sure if the dorm caretakers were going to come kick me out or not. We were supposed to have another big aftershock about three hours ago, but it never came. Probably a good thing.
Well, I’ll start from the beginning. I was in the communal computer rooms in the dorms when the first one hit. It took me about two or three second to figure out what was going on. I remember the big earthquake that hit the Northwest in 2000 or 2001 or whenever, so I had a decent idea of what to expect. It wasn’t gentle, but it wasn’t bad enough that I immediately thought the building was going to come down. When I first came intot he hallway, there was group of three frightened/slightly confused girls heading towards the stairs. One of them was a French friend of mine and the other two were Korean. One of the girls looked like she was damn near in shock and was being led by the other two. I guess they must all have been pretty scared or rattled, because as soon as they saw me, they stopped and asked what we ought to do. I told them to head straight for the stairs and get outside. I debated whether I ought to stay and help others, but I figured everybody had a pretty decent idea what the best idea was. So I headed outside at a run too.
When I got out there, everyone was just standing around. A good half of the people were looking pretty upset. The Koreans took it hardest. They’re kind of a melodramatic bunch, for the most part. They’re known for love drama tv series involving lots of love triangles, betrayals, and at least one death per episode. To be expected. The Japanese were sitting around bored. That’s one way to solve the age-old problem of differentiating between Japanese and Chinese and Koreans. If their standing around calmly during an earthquake smoking… Japanese. If they’re just staring… Chinese. If they’re going into mild hysterics… Korean. The Europeans and Americans were mostly just standing around. Slightly worried, but then most everyone was a little worried. Some people were just annoyed at the interruption to their day.
After the first (which was the biggest of the only two to hit so far), some went inside. It started with a trickle of Japanese and westerners, then turned into a steady stream after a minute or so. But the majority still stayed outside, including the caretakers, hereafter referred to as Fu wu yuan (foo-woo-yen). I was one of the ones that went inside. I had left my lap-top sitting on a chair on the third floor, in open sight. I kind of like the convenience that a personal lap-top affords and as much as I like to contribute to the common good, I’d rather it remain in my possession (and my dad would probably agree, seeing as how he paid for it).
As soon as I got upstairs, I shut down my computer and hopped online. Very soon after however, a second tremor rocked the building. It was smaller than the first, but I didn’t wait to find out if it was gonna stay that way. I grabbed my lap-top and headed outside. I figured I could power it up and dork around with stuff on battery power. Kind of a good idea, because we were destined for a whole lotta waiting. I got quite a few jealous stares for having something to amuse myself with.
After this second shake up, the Fu wu yuan closed down the building. At first no one was allowed back in. but after a short while, they began to let in people that needed to use the bathroom. I spent about an hour and a half playing on my comp until the battery dies on me. A friend had adopted the excuse of needing to use the bathroom to get into the building, and had then gone and gotten online to see what was in the news. As I said, my battery had died, so I decided to follow suit. I went up to the computer room and hopped online. I shot off a quick mass e-mail to my rents and a few others that I knew would be concerned about me (thanks Chris, ha ha). But I was quickly kicked out again as the Fu wu yuan made a sweep of the building. So started a very long night…
After about another hour spent outside, the Fu wu yuan brought out some coke, sprite, water, and juice for everyone waiting outside. They also took all of the benches from every floors common area and put those outside for people to sit on. After another 30 minutes or so, two huge boxes of noodle bowls (I hate these things) materialized and people started tucking in. they were gone before everyone had a chance to grab one. They also put crackers out, but these things are hideously nasty, so were mostly left untouched. A friend went up to his room and grabbed a guitar and five of us sat around playing guitar and talking about all that was going on. People from my UW exchange program stopped by every now and then just to see what was going on. Guess everyone figured that the dorms were the unofficial rally point during emergencies. This was actually rather helpful, as they all brought differing perspectives on the situation from their respective places of residence.
For those with apartments above the 6 floor (most everyone) the quake was a pretty frightening experience. Chengdu has never once recorded a single earthquake (from what I’ve heard), so the local buildings aren’t exactly built for this sort of thing. They swayed so badly at the higher elevations that people were hardly able to walk down hallways. I’m frankly quite surprised that no buildings have fallen down (that I’ve yet seen or heard about). There are some old brick buildings next to the dorms that really should have fallen down, given the obviously shoddy construction methods common in China. But thankfully, no one was seriously hurt in our local area. The worst that I’ve seen was an old woman with a head bandage that we saw when we went searching for a restaurant that wasn’t closed. She must have fallen down and whacked her head on something. The only other injury that I saw was a Korean girl whose leg looked like it had been thoroughly mauled by some sort of small, furry, ferocious animal. She was limping around with the help of some of her friends.
As the evening wore on, people started to realize that we weren’t going to be allowed back in for the night. Blankets and pillows and sweaters started to appear. Everyone was gathering on the lawn right outside the front gates of the dorms. It looked more like a festival (as multiple people remarked on) than a mini earthquake refuge camp. As we hadn’t seen any real damage and had only the news that people occasionally dug up to go on, the mood was pretty light all night. Some were a little annoyed at not being allowed back in, though it’s no real big surprise that they weren’t. almost everyone was bored. I spotted at least three guitars, a couple games of cards, a game of mah jong (this is a horrible miss-spelling of the actual word by the way), a soccer ball, and a whole camp of people playing with computers and PSP’s huddled around the power outlets for electric scooters.
We all slept pretty soundly up until around 12:00am or 1:00am or so. That’s when it started raining. Everybody quickly headed inside. Nobody really knew what to do after that. Some set up their sleeping stuff in the main lobby of the dorm building. Some clustered underneath the little bike shelter, despite the wet bedding that undoubtedly resulted. A few people (I would be in this category) snuck off into nearby rooms. For everyone except those with a mattress, it was a terribly sleepless night. After it stopped raining, a large number of people moved back outside onto the hard, wet pavement. I heard that around 6:00am or so, there a was another mass movement to go inside. Whether it was sanctioned by the Fu wu yuan or not, I have no idea. I was asleep at the time… comfortable in my warm, albeit relatively unsafely located bed. One other guy joined me after this second migration.
Sad for him, we were awoken around 9:00am by the Fu wu yuan knocking on every door. Apparently, they had heard that a third quake was expected to hit within the hour. So, we all got up and headed back outside, careful to bring supplies for another long wait. But that third one never happened… at least not yet. Personally, I think this whole thing is over. We have felt a couple (maybe?) minor tremors since, but only one was big enough to warrant unanimous acknowledgement.
so, what sort of damage has been done? I’m sure everyone is very interested in the answer to this question. Everyone in the group with ties to a college or university in the States has gotten offers from local news group to do interviews. I immediately deleted my own, but it seems like everyone is jumping to be the first with in-depth coverage. Sadly for them, I think everyone will just have to be patient and wait for the Chinese to sort this mess out. They’re not overly tolerant of independent reporting here, to say the least.
The truth is, what I’ve got to go is mostly hearsay or news that every already has access to. Last night, the TA for our UW exchange program contacted us with some preliminary information. He’s always glued to a computer when things are going down. When he made a report of his findings (last night around 11:00pm or so), the official death toll was 7,000 (this has since been revised. See below). almost all of that was outside of Chengdu (my city of residence). But there were about 75 deaths even here in Chengdu. I heard about a few people killed by falling glass in the fancy, modern shopping district that’s well known locally. Lots of overly decorated buildings and nowhere to run. Pretty much a deathtrap.
The low number of deaths here in Chengdu is very, very surprising. Here’s why. There are two areas that were hit much harder than all the rest. Chengdu is roughly the same distance from the epicenter as both of these areas (a friend ahs informed me that the BBC currently has an article with an attached map showing the relative locations of all the places I talk about below. Check there for a reference guide). The first, a county to the northeast called Bei chuan (bay-chwan), accounts for a huge number of the deaths recorded so far. It’s been widely reported that over 80% of all the buildings in this county have been completely obliterated. The second county is called Wen chwan (wun-chwan). Again, there are large numbers of people dead or missing within this and the other county. One city alone, Mian Zhu (as it looks), is reported to have over 10,000 trapped or missing. It’s also worth noting that a city called Du jiang yan (doo-jiang-yen), the same place where I was hired to spend a night drinking and hanging out (for those that know the story), has also suffered serious damage. We don’t yet have numbers, but those should come out within the next few days.
The official death count for today has been elevated to 10,000 people. Another 17,000 are either reported missing or believed to be trapped. This is the worst earthquake that China has seen since 1976.
Update (3:15pm): we just had another little tremor. The interesting thing is that it happened within half an hour of the same time as the first one yesterday. Probably just coincidence. We all evacuated quickly and efficiently. The whole thing was over before almost anyone was out of the building.
Update (3:20pm): just had another. It was only a single shake. A friend just found out that there have been 313 recorded tremors so far. I don’t know what counts as a tremor. But there it is. Also, the official policy is now that you are allowed to enter the building as you wish, but if a tremor starts, you are required to immediately exit.
They have mobilized around 50,000 regular army to roll into theses areas. Right now, they are expecting at least 17,000 people to be trapped somewhere amidst the rubble. So, given Chengdu’s close proximity to the epicenter, we got off extremely lucky at only 75 dead (don’t worry mom). I’m sure more details will emerge in the next few days.
Well, in light of all this tragedy, I’d like to post a few anecdotes in an attempt to lighten the mood. Not laughing is not living.
Update (3:55pm): another small series of shakes. Didn’t really go anywhere though. Here’s an interesting fact. Did you know that if what you’re experiencing is nothing more than a tremor, then it’s actually safer to be inside. This is because the first thing to go in a building is the stairways, hence running up and down them is also running through a danger zone over and over. Though the best strategy is to simply stay outside…
Update (4:00pm): as of 1:30pm, the number of people missing within the county of Wen chuan has moved up to 60,000 people. From the wording, we’re unsure whether this means they simply forgot to check in or whether they are believed to be trapped. On a positive note, the total number of people believed to be dead has been adjusted down… 9,219. something to be thankful for.
A friend of mine was in his 26th story apartment when the first quake hit yesterday. As I said above, people at that height were hardly able to walk because of the swaying of the building. He did however make it out of the building. On a side note, he told me that the outside of his building had a huge crack running along it. I haven’t sent this with my own eyes to verify, but he is a rather trustworthy sort. The funny part is that he was in such a hurry to get out that when he got downstairs, he was in his boxers, his dog held safely underneath his arm. Luckily, he grabbed a pair of shorts on the way out. Someone loaned him a shirt too.
The second story was told to me by one of my Swedish friends. A little bit of back-story is necessary here, I think. As is well known, Japan receives a huge number of earthquakes every year. On average, they get over 80 a day, though only one of those is ever strong enough to be noticed by the casual observer. Needless to say, earthquakes are a normal part of life for most Japanese. So anyway… my friend. He lives on the fourth floor. As he was evacuating for the first quake, he happened to look outside onto the roof (the roof is on the same level as the fourth floor and the access point is right next to the stairwell). There was an elderly Japanese man just standing there on the roof nonchalantly, smoking his cigarette and laughing at everyone as they ran down the stairs.
On a similar note, during the first quake that hit today, as everyone was running full tilt out of the building (bearing in mind that the tremors had stopped before I’d even exited myself), the Japanese students were already walking calmly back in. they looked rather bored.
I’ll keep in touch. Please feel free to post comments. I would like anyone wishing to contact me to please use only the comment section of my blog. I’d prefer to not have 20 e-mails when I get online tomorrow. Thanks all.
Peace,
DJ
“I guess you should just watch the Japanese; if they look worried or run outside you follow; if they are calm just chill out” –my mom
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