Earthquake update

quake lake.jpg

Flood danger from quake lakes

6.4-magnitude aftershock

At least one person died and hundreds were injured on Sunday after a 6.4-magnitude aftershock occurred at 16:21 in Qingchuan in Sichuan. The deaths and injuries were caused by collapsing buildings. You can read more about it on the Economic Observer and on the China Daily‘s website which also has information about the dangers of ‘quake lakes’ formed by rubble blocking up rivers.

Here is a roundup of other recent news and opinion pieces about the quake:

All round coverage

The dedicated earthquake sections of Shanghaiist and China Digital Times are the most comprehensive directories of links to media articles and blog posts about the earthquake.

Wen Jiabao

The Chinese prime minister’s actions and words of the last two weeks have won him the affections of many Chinese and foreigners. Jane Macartney of The Times was in Sichuan with Wen last week and filed a report titled A seismic shift in China’s relations with West?

Tofu dregs: Why did so many school collapse?

Although word on the Internet is that the government is trying to damp down discussion of this subject, there are still many blog posts, media articles and forum websites posts about ‘tofu dregs’ (豆腐渣). The phrase refers to shoddy construction using cheap cement with no reinforcing steel bars, or low quality steel.

The New York Times has a long, thoroughly researched piece on the issue: Chinese Are Left to Ask Why Schools Crumbled

ESWN also has links, translations and photographs: Natural Disaster, Human Faults

The Chinese Red Cross

There has been a lot of discussion on the Chinese Internet accusing the Chinese Red Cross of being corrupt, or at the least non transparent about the use of its funds and citizen donations. The new blog Speak4China (ambitious name that) has two good posts about this: Chinese netizens continue to monitor earthquake corruption and Red Cross in the cross hairs.

Quake lake floods

Qian Gang, director of China Media Project has published an article titled China’s history of catastrophic ‘quake lake’ floods should be a warning to leaders (translation by David Bandurski). The piece

“re-visits the Diexi earthquake of 1933 and the lessons it holds for today”.

Death toll and other stats from the government

The People’s Daily has published an English roundup of official statistics from the earthquake zone, including a death toll of 62,664 nationwide as of Sunday noon, with 23,775 people reported missing: Facts and figures about China quake and relief.

Journalists and bloggers in Sichuan

Photos of Qingchuan, epicenter of Sunday’s quake on ESWN

• Jo Egil Tobiassen on Go Kunming: Hope during dark times: Witnessing the earthquake’s aftermath

• Stephen McDonell of Australia’s ABC television: Walk to the epicentre

NPR in Chengdu

Q&A with Adrienne Mong, NBC News’ Beijing Producer.

Please add links to more personal accounts in the comments if you think they are worth reading.

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