A massive earthquake struck central China, killing more than 50,000 people and burying alive another 20,000. Government officials issued a rare public appeal for rescue workers and equipment following the quake, which registered 7.9 on the Richter scale.
In spite of all the death and destruction, there were stories of survival that kept hope alive. In the devastated town of Dujiangyan, an all-night search through debris saved a 62-year-old man trapped under his collapsed house. Rescuers and bystanders cheered and took photos with their cell phones as the man was extracted from the rubble. Nearby a 22-year-old woman was pulled to safety after being buried for three long nights. Her rescue was broadcast and cheered on state television. "I was confident that you were coming to rescue me. I’m alive. I’m so happy," the unnamed woman said.
But by Thursday, officials started shifting from search-and-rescue to body recovery.
More Shocking Photos at DailyMail
A cyclone has devastated the country of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), leaving at least 22,000 people dead, 41,000 missing, and up to one million people homeless. The Cyclone Nargis tore through the country’s heartland and biggest city of Yangon early Saturday. Some villages were totally destroyed, and vast rice-growing areas have been wiped out.
Relief efforts in the low-lying Irrawaddy River delta have been difficult, in large part because of the destruction of roads and communications outlets by the storm. Neighbor Thailand sent the first overseas assistance on Tuesday. The United States is expected to contribute millions of dollars to the relief effort.
Based on a United Nations satellite map, the storm’s damage was concentrated over a 11,600-square-mile area along the Andaman Sea. Although this is less than 5 percent of the country’s area, it is home to nearly a quarter of Myanmar’s 57 million people. Images from state television showed massive trees and electric poles shredded across roads and roofless houses submerged in water. "More or less all the landlines are down and it’s extremely difficult to get information from cyclone-affected areas. But from the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," said a Myanmar official.
Frustrated residents claim the ruling military junta failed to prepare the country for the impending storm. "The government misled people," said Thin Thin, a grocery story owner in Yangon. "They could have warned us about the severity of the coming cyclone so we could be better prepared."
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A 5.2-magnitude earthquake centered in southern Illinois shook the Midwest early Friday, surprising residents unaccustomed to such a powerful temblor. I woke up to a shaking bed, and my house shook and dishes rattled for about 30 seconds. At left is an official seismograph of the quake.
The earthquake was one of the strongest ever recorded in Illinois and occurred just before 4:37 a.m. It was centered six miles southeast of West Salem, Ill., and 66 miles west of Evansville, Ind. There was minor damage and no injuries reported.
The quake shook skyscrapers in Chicago, 230 miles north of the epicenter, and in downtown Indianapolis, about 160 miles northeast of the epicenter. In Louisville, the quake caused bricks to fall off part of a building near downtown.
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Scientists predict there is a 99.7% chance that California will be struck by a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger in the next 30 years. The last time a quake this size rattled California was the 1994 Northridge disaster, which measured 6.7 on the Richter scale, killed 72 people, injured more than 9,000 and caused $25 billion in damage.
“It basically guarantees it’s going to happen,” said Ned Field, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena and lead author of the report.
California sits in one of the most seismically active regions in the world. More than 300 faults crisscross the state, and about 10,000 quakes each year rattle Southern California alone, although most of them are too small to be felt.
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Forecasters predict a “very active” Atlantic hurricane season in 2008. Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project, led by hurricane expert William Gray, predicts 15 named storms and 8 hurricanes, 4 of which will be “major.”
A typical season has 10 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1 and lasts until Nov. 30. The most active time is typically in late August and early September.
The forecasters believe above-normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern subtropical Atlantic during February and March will significantly increase hurricane activity. The team devised a new computer statistical model after overestimating the last two hurricane seasons.
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active in recorded history with 28 storms, 7 major hurricanes including the infamous Hurricane Katrina, at least 2,280 deaths and $128 billion in damages.
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In spite of all our differences, the one thing that binds all living creatures is that we each have an expiration date. This finality to our existence is what makes life special, something to be cherished and protected. But occasionally things can go terribly wrong…
