Powerful earthquake in Sichuan province, China at 8.00am their time

[malaise]

A powerful earthquake has killed more than 150 people and injured several thousand in China's rural south-west, officials say.

The 6.6-magnitude tremor sent people fleeing from buildings across Sichuan province, which was devastated by a massive quake five years ago.

Villages close to the epicentre in Lushan county were left in ruins.

Thousands of troops have been sent to Sichuan, and Premier Li Keqiang has arrived in the area.

"The current most urgent issue is grasping the first 24 hours since the quake's occurrence, the golden time for saving lives," Mr Li was quoted as saying by Xinhua state news agency.

Rescuers have been able to pull some bodies and survivors from the rubble of devastated villages.

But recovery efforts have been hampered by aftershocks and landslides.

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas, in Sichuan, said there had been well over 100 aftershocks, leaving buildings damaged and dangerous.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22228225

[uppityperson]

1. k&r

[Marrah_G]

2. More sad news :(

[malaise]

3. What a week

[Marrah_G]

4. Chaos.... that's the only word I can come up with

[John1956PA]

5. There is a theory that dams cause earthquakes, such as the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Possible Link Between Dam and China Quake, NYT, 02-06-2009

BEIJING — Nearly nine months after a devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, left 80,000 people dead or missing, a growing number of American and Chinese scientists are suggesting that the calamity was triggered by a four-year-old reservoir built close to the earthquake’s geological fault line. . . .

[ananda]

6. CME last weekend.

I read that it can trigger quakes.