Earthquake!

[gougou]

With more money and construction in China in recent times I wonder if newer buildings are more solid

There was a couple of reports recently how a lot of the steel used in construction in Shanghai is sub-par. Sitting on the 19th floor of a Shanghai high-rise when the earth shook, that was rather unsettling knowledge.

[renzhe]

So what should you do? I have seen videos of people under tables. In American TV shows they stand in the doorway or under the stairs. On the news they were evacuating building?

I've been taught to stand in the doorway, preferably the biggest one around, as they are usually parts of the load-bearing walls, and thus less likely to collapse on you.

[Shadowdh]

So what should you do? I have seen videos of people under tables. In American TV shows they stand in the doorway or under the stairs. On the news they were evacuating building?

What is the safest thing to do?

We were told that if you were inside then diving under a table or standing in a doorway were the best options, these are the single story houses mind not the tall skyscrapers of the modern era... doorways because they were supposed to be built stronger tables cos then the wooden beams supporting the roof were not huge... so a table was thought to be able to withstand the debri in case of a collapse... not sure what the modern take on this is, but it might have changed ala the duck and cover actions in case of a nuclear strike...

[muyongshi]

Thanks everyone for you thoughts!

The death toll in Mianyang is about to 100 and in Jiangyou it is about 130.

Just to let everyone know that tomorrow morning (4am/5am) I will be joining a Red Cross Disaster Relief Team into Beichuan (the second largest disaster area) for setting up a base of operations for the relief effort and doing translation for them as well. Later may as well join them for the actually digging but this has yet to be set in stone. Will be gone initially for approximately 48 hours. (just a quick note: no i will not take pictures and so will not post any- there is too much other things that need to get done)

[Lu]

Not sure how scientific this is, but this is what I picked up over time:

When in a high building, take the stairs down (not sure whether this can actually save you, but there is no better option).

When inside, stand in a doorway (since that would be the last thing to collapse),

or hide under a table (to prevent things from falling on your head),

or crouch in a corner (same reason as doorway).

But when recently a light but long earthquake hit Taiwan in the middle of the night, I was too sleepy/lazy to get out of my half-sleep and actually do any of this, and I just pulled a pillow over my head and waited for it to be over. Earthquakes definitely get less scary when you have one every once in a while and notice that nothing bad happens.

[gougou]

Danwei, and the sources it quotes, have quite a different take on doorways and tables:

People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are always crush.

Everybody who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed.

[Lu]

Muyongshi, that's a really good thing to do, good luck there and I hope you'll get much done.

Gougou, that article makes a lot of sense. Will keep it in mind.

[renzhe]

I think that the doorway thing is extremely dependent on how the building was built. I learnt this growing up in older brick buildings with massive internal load-bearing walls.

But that was certainly a great article to read.

[madizi]

We felt earthquake here in Changsha. The overhead projector started to shake and students started to panic. We all left the building.

Isn't one of this forum's members from 绵阳 Mianyang, which is near the distressed area? The one with Snoopy avatar?

[roddy]

Merging the two earthquake topics as we're obviously getting crossover - madizi, if you look a few posts up, you'll find that Snoopy is safe and well.

[BrandeX]

Hi

Im so sorry to hear what happened...

Is there anyone from Guangzhou?

If yes, how much could you felt it there?

A close friend of mine is in Guangzhou, and i couldnt contact him yet...

Thank you

They are no doubt fine. I didn't even know there was an earthquake in China until I read this thread. (I don't watch/read news very often.)

[bhchao]

But when recently a light but long earthquake hit Taiwan in the middle of the night, I was too sleepy/lazy to get out of my half-sleep and actually do any of this, and I just pulled a pillow over my head and waited for it to be over. Earthquakes definitely get less scary when you have one every once in a while and notice that nothing bad happens.

Dangerous, Lu! What if the ceiling collapses.

A way to predict strong earthquakes might be to rely on pets and animals. Studies showed that animals can sense the earth vibrating before an earthquake occurs. The pandas at Wolong Reserve probably seeked higher cover before it struck.

[muyongshi]

A quick update before our trip out tomorrow, our orders changed and now we could be doing anything from setting up camp, getting orders filled for equipment but it seems that there will be a big possibility that we will be doing digging and corpse removal.

[skylee]

I didn't even know there was an earthquake in China until I read this thread. (I don't watch/read news very often.)

I was in Shanghai and did not feel anything. Didn't even know about it until friend's folks called yesterday to check if we were ok.

A way to predict strong earthquakes might be to rely on pets and animals. Studies showed that animals can sense the earth vibrating before an earthquake occurs. The pandas at Wolong Reserve probably seeked higher cover before it struck.

The link in Quest's post #53 is a report about a recent toad migration in Mianzhu City before the earthquake.

And muyongshi 加油.

[madizi]

Merging the two earthquake topics as we're obviously getting crossover - madizi, if you look a few posts up, you'll find that Snoopy is safe and well.

Thanks, God!

[ms2002sss]

We felt earthquake here in Changsha. The overhead projector started to shake and students started to panic. We all left the building

My In-laws are in Changsha and when we called to check they were OK they knew nothing about an earthquake!

[Lu]

Dangerous, Lu! What if the ceiling collapses.

Hence the pillow.

It was a light earthquake, just the bed shaking a bit, no things falling over or anything or I would have woken up and ducked.

[xiaojiang216]

大家好，

Does anyone know if there is a way for a foreigner to volunteer to help the earthquake survivors? Are there any organizations like the Red Cross that allow such volunteers? I have been very saddened by this disaster, and wish to help out in any way, perhaps like muyongshi is.

Thank you, and I hope that peace will prevail.

[Long Zhiren]

Not sure how scientific this is, but this is what I picked up over time:

When in a high building, take the stairs down (not sure whether this can actually save you, but there is no better option).

When inside, stand in a doorway (since that would be the last thing to collapse),

or hide under a table (to prevent things from falling on your head),

or crouch in a corner (same reason as doorway).

Being under tables and doorways is one of the better things that we can do, assuming that the building doesn't collapse. IMO, getting out of a building as soon as we can, might be a better idea if the earthquake seems too big. Instead of getting crushed, we'll merely become a moving target for falling objects. An elevator is a bad idea, just as it is during a fire. Do indeed get out of the building as soon as possible, even if the earthquake is over--and start shutting down gas lines! If the building collapses, it may soon. But if an earthquake is too big, even standing up will be a challenge. Running or crawling may not be an option until after the shaking is over. During 1989’s 7.1 Loma Prieta Earthquake (almost ten times smaller than Monday’s Sichuan quake) over 50 miles from San Francisco, there were a bunch of children on a playground (thankfully not in their school buildings!) in the Santa Cruz mountains (only a few miles from the epicenter) who got knocked off their feet. During the shaking, they were all on their backs on the grass giggling because they couldn’t stay on their feet. Most drivers pulled over in traffic because they thought their tires blew out. The ground may be moving like waves on a stormy sea.

There was a couple of reports recently how a lot of the steel used in construction in Shanghai is sub-par. Sitting on the 19th floor of a Shanghai high-rise when the earth shook, that was rather unsettling knowledge.

Hopefully, China and the rest of the world has learned its history lessons from the 1895 Sino-Japanese war when corruption filled Chinese Navy shells with grain instead of explosives. The Japanese Navy got pelted with duds, and the Chinese Navy got routed.

However, if an earthquake is big enough and close enough, it really doesn’t matter what kind of steel we use. As long as we’re connected to the planet, we’ve got problems. With this kind of energy, everything on the planet is just a liquid.

Science is knowing what we don’t know. Thinking that we know something is religion.

It’s time to rethink religion, especially if it’s about repenting and not depending on what we do or know because in the big scheme of things, we are powerless.

A way to predict strong earthquakes might be to rely on pets and animals.

My parakeets hang on to their branches when the wind blows. They actually kind of enjoy it. They sometimes prefer to ride a swing than to sit on a motionless branch. When an earthquake shakes their branches like a 6.0 from just ten miles away this last year, the parakeets don’t seem to act any differently. They actually enjoy watching things fall too, like leaves in the autumn. Now if something goes smack against something else, then they freak out and take off.

[roddy]

12,000 dead, 60,000 missing, more than 60% of the population killed in Beichuan. It's hard to even take in.

@xiaojiang - unless you're actually trained in search and rescue or something, or are actually in the area, I'm not sure there's much you can do. You could donate to the Chinese Red Cross details, but at the moment the issue seems to be not so much a lack of cash or materials - it's actually getting to the people in need.