Yesterday's Yunnan Earthquake

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It was not far from Kunming, but I could not feel it here. Wasn't aware of it until a friend mentioned it in the evening. This morning the Yunnan News Channel is running special reports showing severe damage and destruction. Thus far the confirmed loss of life has been under a hundred.

It occurred in a fairly remote mountainous area north and slightly east of Kunming, close to the Guizhou border. If you drew a straight line from Kunming to Chongqing, it would be just left of the middle point on that line. This isn't a major tourist area so far as I'm aware, so if you have Yunnan travel plans they probably won't be affected.

It's mainly a mining area, known for its zinc production. Also some terraced farming and raising of goats/sheep. Rather poor and remote. One of the main rescue problems now is access. They have moved in heavy equipment to help unblock the roads. Rescue teams with dogs are on site.

The initial disturbance was 5.6 and hit about noon yesterday (Friday 7 September.) Aftershocks occurred through the night and a secondary quake, also magnitude 5.2 or so, happened this morning a few kilometers away (according to the TV report.) No major population centers involved, but some smaller villages were demolished. Boulders over 4 meters tall came tumbling down hills and crushed everything in their path.

This earthquake was said to be shallow, causing lots of surface damage. By contrast, the Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008 (Sichuan) was an 8, and was said to be deep.

[Cheshire_Puss]

I live in Kunming, YunNan. Didn't feel anything.

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I didn't feel it either. Earthquakes that are shallow, like this one, can't be felt very far away. Deep ones, like Wenchuan in 2008, made some tall Kunming buildings sway and shake.

[xiaocai]

We felt it here in south Sichuan.

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Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Yiliang last night. When I watch him interacting with the common people, I cannot help thinking he really does care and it's not just a show. I like him more than most national leaders and will be sorry to see him step down at the end of his term.

It also seems to me that China has excellent natural disaster response. I had the same impression after the Wenchuan Earthquake. China prepares and trains to facilitate fast response when it's needed. I applaud that.

[xiaocai]

Is it? It is good to know then, even it might just have been some 表面功夫. Then again, I don't think anyone else on these forums would really care.

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Yiliang had big rainstorms the last couple days. Lots of mud makes everything more difficult. Seems like there's always big rain after these earthquakes. Same happened in May, 2008 in Sichuan.