Althouse: "I suddenly felt very dizzy, as if I were heavily drunk. I thought I was seriously ill, then I looked around and saw my colleagues felt the same way."

May 12, 2008

"I suddenly felt very dizzy, as if I were heavily drunk. I thought I was seriously ill, then I looked around and saw my colleagues felt the same way."

The earthquake in China.

7.8.

UPDATE: Reports now say that 7,600 people are dead and 900 students are trapped inside a collapsed school.

24 comments:

rhhardin said...: There was a pause as it turned out to be a lightly populated area, and no actual hook into a template story was available. Earth shakes, what good is that?

Now it's possible a thousand students were killed, so the story can continue with a familiar template.

The possibility itself is the hook at the moment. The last I heard.

The news depends on the tastes of the audience for it.

I'd like to see ``building collapses on thousand celebrities,'' myself.

A wag a few years ago said the headline he wanted to see was ``Ashleigh Banfield Autopsy Photos Page 4.''

There's a news template rebellion out there.; 5/12/08, 8:04 AM
bearbee said...: South and west of Beijing near the Tibet border. Might also be touching the border of Burma.

Will aid be requested?

Burma regime finally allowing some aid to enter. Bastards!; 5/12/08, 8:50 AM
vbspurs said...: Burma regime finally allowing some aid to enter. Bastards!

That regime should be tried for crimes against humanity. Have any junta ever prevented aid from reaching their people, because it would weaken their position amongst their people (they feel)?

Oh, what am I saying...Communist countries did that all the time.

Still, I'm sorry for the area which is battered and bloody beyond recognition.

Remember the earthquake in Pakistan 3 years ago?

That was 7.6/7.7, the same strength as the Frisco earthquake in 1906. It flattened it.

God bless these people...

Cheers,
Victoria; 5/12/08, 8:59 AM
KCFleming said...: No simultaneous orgasms with this tremor?; 5/12/08, 9:03 AM
Triangle Man said...: The epicenter was at least 400 miles from Burma. It was about 400 miles from Xi'an (location of the terracotta warriors), and more than 900 miles from Beijing.; 5/12/08, 9:04 AM
Roger J. said...: Listened to an on-the-scene NPR report. Everyone ran out in the street. The correct response is "drop-cover-and hold." Running out in the street increases your chances of being killed or injured. This public service message brought to you by CUSEC (www.cusec.org); 5/12/08, 9:30 AM
vbspurs said...: Running out in the street increases your chances of being killed or injured.

I've been in two earthquakes -- Peru, Japan.

I've never been in a tsunami, so I can't truly say this, but I tells ya give me a hurricane any day (God forgive me for saying that).

In Lima, the locals told me to get under the door of the house I was in, should there be a quake, and don't move. But still I saw people running, dogs runnings, cops running, and in a flash, the asphalt opened up in front of me and swallowed a car whole.

An earthquake is the scariest crap alive.

I'd never live in the Pacific rim, because of it.

Cheers,
Victoria; 5/12/08, 9:45 AM
Roger J. said...: Ms Victoria--you got good advice, athough running is a panic response. You are more likely to be injured by the non-structural stuff--equipment, bookshelves, decorative stone work falling on you.

Interesting about the dogs. At a recent earthquake conference in Indiana shortly after the April 18the Mt. Vernon temblor, I was talking to the state vet who said horses and cats sstarted reacting shortly prior to the quake--(based on his email conversations with other vets). Dogs, less the first time, but they reacted prior to the aftershocks.; 5/12/08, 10:10 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Living in not only earthquake country but also volcano country (I can see two major,dormant for now, volcanoes from my home) my bigger worry would be the volcanoes. Standing in the doorway during an eartquake could help I suppose unless the entire building comes down.

The scariest earthquake I was in wasn't a very strong one, only about a 4.5, but I was panicked because I was on the 10th floor of an office building in S.F. Freak out!!! The building was swaying so much we couldn't stand up. Having been through that experience, I personally felt the panic of those in the 9-11 attacks trapped in a high rise building.; 5/12/08, 10:27 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/12/08, 10:27 AM
Anonymous said...: At least the Burmese government responded to the disaster faster than the Bush Administration responded to Katrina . . .; 5/12/08, 10:33 AM
Anonymous said...: "There was a pause as it turned out to be a lightly populated area"

Only in wingnuttia, can a population of 87 million be considered "lightly populated"; 5/12/08, 10:46 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: At least the Burmese government responded to the disaster faster than the Bush Administration responded to Katrina . . .

But of course, that's because everyone involved in the hurricane disaster is gay. Bush hates gay people. The Burmese government doesn't hate gay people and that is why they are leaping to help their people by rushing food and supplies to them.

Just thought I would cut to the chase and save us all some time since we usually descend to this level at some point when dtl is posting.; 5/12/08, 11:17 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Sure does seem to be a lot of tectonic and volcanic activity in recent weeks...the quake in the midwest and off the Oregon coast, the Chilean volcano, a quake off of Japan, now this.

Beware the signs— earthquake lights and Moodus noises.; 5/12/08, 11:26 AM
bearbee said...: List of Worldwide Quakes by date.; 5/12/08, 11:35 AM
vbspurs said...: Bearbee quoted the Worldwide Quake stats link:

2008 04 18 - Illinois - M 5.2

Seriously?

Cheers,
Victoria; 5/12/08, 12:02 PM
bearbee said...: Southern IL is on the New Madrid fault line; 5/12/08, 12:14 PM
Roger J. said...: Bearbee and Victoria--the richter scale is logrithmic and each number increase is a factor of 10. Richter is a rough measure of the quake's force; the modified mercalli index is a measure of the distance and intensity the ground waves travel. USGS should have a "shakemap" up on the Chinese quake by now.

Bearbee: the Mt Vernon, IL, quake was on the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone; The geologists arent sure that is really "connected" to the New Madrid Seismic Zone, although it clearly is close by. Go to http://cusec.org for some maps.; 5/12/08, 1:08 PM
bearbee said...: Thanks

Sichuan Shake map

Illnois Shake Map

Stark difference.; 5/12/08, 2:44 PM
Roger J. said...: 7.9 is what we call in the trade a BFE. And this one was intense--look at the peak ground acceleration and the extent of the intensity on the shakemaps.

One of the interesting things that can be done now, is creating GIS map layers for your critical infrastructure to give you a before picture; you can then take remote images using satellites a la google earth; post event you reimage and get near real time damage assessment. we are working on that technology in the central US now.

USGS predicts that within 5 years, all post natural disaster imaging will be done with unmannied aerial vehicles. They can also use LIDAR and ground penetrating radar if you know the ground cover and existing soils composition and have it mapped on GIS.

More than you wanted to know, I am sure.; 5/12/08, 3:06 PM
Tibore said...: "More than you wanted to know, I am sure."

On the contrary, Roger, keep going. I had no idea people were utilizing GIS in the manner you described, but it makes sense. My local university has a (to me) deep collection of GIS "stuff" that I've enjoyed scratching the surface of. And I like reading up on this sort of stuff.; 5/12/08, 7:50 PM
bearbee said...: More than you wanted to know, I am sure.

Probably, but Technology......it's a beautiful thing!; 5/13/08, 5:24 AM
Roger J. said...: Tibore--this thread is probably gone, but if you are interested, by all means email me. For starters, google EROS USGS--that will take you to their remote sensing site. The possibilities, I believe, are endless.; 5/13/08, 7:50 AM
bearbee said...: 3 Frontiers in Earthquake Tech to Aid China—and Help the U.S.; 5/14/08, 7:36 AM