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| The Sichuan earthquake | 2008-05-15 15:00:43 |
On Monday there was a terrible earthquake in Sichuan, China, with the magnitude of 7.9. As I am watching the TV news updates on damages and casualties, I feel so sad. This monster earthquake literally wiped out some small towns in the area so that there are almost no buildings left. In some areas, over 75% of the population died.
I am feeling so painful while seeing these news, I do not know how many people survived. The 7.3 magnitude earthquake that happened in Taiwan several years ago is nothing compared to this one. The difference of this 0.6 in Richter's scale is so gigantic! It is a hyper fast growing logarithmic scale, not linear. It means, the energy of this earthquake was 10 times bigger than 9/21 Taiwan earthquake. Most people can never even imagine it. The magnitude 7.9 equals to the explosion energy of 600 000 000 tons of TNT explosives.
I have experienced 5.5 magnitude earthquake in Taipei before, but this is so tiny compared to what happened in Sichuan! With 5.5 usually nobody gets hurt and no buildings collapse nor get any serious structural damage, unless there were serious construction mistakes. Only the high buildings shake slowly (two waves per second or so), feels like the ferry making a turn in a stormy sea, making the whole ship vibrate for a while.
I really really hope that there will be more survivers this time! I also hope our renju friends in China are all safe! My biggest condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims! May you all have the strength to overcome this disaster! The world is watching and supporting you! |
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