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Homeless Chinese earthquake survivors rest on a rock pile overlooking a newly formed
lake which has fully submerged their village of Shuangdian.(AP/Audra Ang)
lake which has fully submerged their village of Shuangdian.(AP/Audra Ang)
China's Quake-Lake Fears Subside
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Soldiers and engineers have completed a channel to drain rising water at Tangjiashan lake. 197,000 people had been evacuated in anticipation of a flood.
30-Second Summary
The lake is one of 30 that were created by landslides that occured following the devastating earthquake in China on May 12.
In addition to the 197,000 people evacuated, authorities had made plans to move as many as another 1.3 million, due to fears that the lake could collapse, causing a large flood. But the success of the newly built channel means they can stay put. Engineers were due to start draining the lake Sunday.
More than 15 million people have been evacuated from areas hit by the earthquake, the government has reported.
The official death toll from the quake is now 69,016, with 18,830 people still missing.
As rescue workers continue to search for survivors, the international community has thus far praised the Chinese reponse to the disaster. Relief efforts quickly sprang into action, and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao immediately traveled to the affected area, surveying the damage and attempting to console the population.
China’s current management of the crisis differs from the way the country has dealt with prior calamities. The government is considerably more open in its dissemination of information about the Sichuan earthquake than it was during the SARS outbreak of 2003, the snowstorms this January, and the recent Tibetan protests, according to Bloomberg.
Some analysts say China’s response has presented a stark contrast with Myanmar’s handling of Cyclone Nargis. The ruling junta in Myanmar has been accused of shunning international help, hampering the spread of information and withholding aid from its people.
In addition to the 197,000 people evacuated, authorities had made plans to move as many as another 1.3 million, due to fears that the lake could collapse, causing a large flood. But the success of the newly built channel means they can stay put. Engineers were due to start draining the lake Sunday.
More than 15 million people have been evacuated from areas hit by the earthquake, the government has reported.
The official death toll from the quake is now 69,016, with 18,830 people still missing.
As rescue workers continue to search for survivors, the international community has thus far praised the Chinese reponse to the disaster. Relief efforts quickly sprang into action, and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao immediately traveled to the affected area, surveying the damage and attempting to console the population.
China’s current management of the crisis differs from the way the country has dealt with prior calamities. The government is considerably more open in its dissemination of information about the Sichuan earthquake than it was during the SARS outbreak of 2003, the snowstorms this January, and the recent Tibetan protests, according to Bloomberg.
Some analysts say China’s response has presented a stark contrast with Myanmar’s handling of Cyclone Nargis. The ruling junta in Myanmar has been accused of shunning international help, hampering the spread of information and withholding aid from its people.
Headline Link: ‘China Earthquake: Death Toll Rises to 15,000’
The successful completion of the channel meant the army was able to abandon backup plans to use dynamite to blast away debris and relieve pressure on the river feeding into the lake, The International Herald Tribune reports.
Source: The International Herald Tribune
Background: China’s handling of the crisis
China’s swift and frank response to the earthquake contrasts with the nation’s recent handling of the Tibet riots and its suppression of media coverage about Tibet. “There's very little effort to control information,'' said Huang Jing, of the National University of Singapore East Asian Institute. “Compared with the Tibet crisis, it looks almost like two governments.'' There is also a difference between China’s management of the earthquake and the way it handled January’s lethal snowstorms and the 2003 SARS outbreak, according to Bloomberg.com.
Source: Bloomberg.com
China has been stricken with disaster in 2008, a year that was supposed to be a joyous celebration of the Beijing Olympics. However, the turmoil has actually increased pride in China, Voice of America reports. Danny Paau, of Hong Kong's Baptist University, said, “It seems to me that everything just drums up the nationalism … They are identifying with the government, the very quick responses. Then of course through the TV, everybody is watching—all these things."
Source: Voice of America
Opinion & Analysis: China versus Myanmar
John Berthelsen contrasts Myanmar’s response to Cyclone Nargis with China’s reaction to the earthquake in a May 13 piece. “Nothing underscores the criminal nature of the Burmese junta more than the contrast between its neglect of its people and China’s immediate reaction to the massive earthquake that devastated large parts of Sichuan province on Monday, killing as many as 10,000 people,” he writes. Even the Southeast Asian countries hit by the tsunami in 2006 handled their crises better than Myanmar has dealt with the cyclone, because they allowed the international community help.
Source: Asia Sentinel
Reference: The earthquake's impact and helping China and Myanmar
The New York Times provides an interactive map showing the most damaged areas from the 7.9 magnitude earthquake.
Source: The New York Times
A FindingDulcinea feature, "Making a Difference in Myanmar and China," provides Web resources for those interested in helping victims of the earthquake in China and the cyclone in Myanmar.
Source: findingDulcinea
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