2008 Woodie Awards
Myanmar and China both hit hard with natural disasters
By: Sarah Frerichs
Issue date: 5/21/08 Section: News
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The newest catastrophe to crash into our world was the earthquake in China. The death toll for this calamity has risen to more than 21,500 as of May 16. This death toll is predicted to soar even higher in the coming days, considering that more than 18,600 were buried under the rubble in one city alone. China's Earthquake and Disaster Relief Headquarters has said the number of deaths could rise above 50,000.
The 7.8-magnitude quake hit the Sichuan province May 12 turning homes, businesses and schools into rubble. Since the initial quake, aftershocks have continued to cause damage. Aftershocks have been ranging from magnitude 6 and less during the past few days.
Rescue efforts have been taking place since the earthquake hit and soldiers march through the province to dig people out of the rubble. However, the weather after the earthquake is also affecting the survival of those trapped. Soon after Monday's quake it rained heavily and the temperatures dropped to around 10 C. People have already been trapped for up to a week and experts are saying that these people, if not rescued soon, do not have much of a chance.
The Chinese government is welcoming support from foreign countries; however it will not take any foreign personnel. The aid must come in the form of supplies or money. There are barely places to put the thousands who are now homeless; there would be no extra space to house foreign personnel.
The other major natural disaster that hit this same area recently was a cyclone in Myanmar, also known as Burma, which borders China and Thailand, two countries that have suffered disastrous storms in the recent past. Tropical Cyclone Nargis has caused 78,000 deaths as of May 16.
The storm hit May 2 and 3 causing extensive damage and leaving 2.5 million people destitute. Along with the high death toll that this tropical cyclone caused, the Myanmar government has denied any foreign aid. The government is suspicious of outside help and has kept the U.N. and other relief organizations in the dark.
However, even with this decline of foreign aid, other countries have taken matters into their own hands. France sent an uninvited ship filled with supplies to the international waters surrounding Myanmar. However, because the aid was not welcomed or asked for, the U.N. ambassador from the Southeast Asia nation accused France of sending a "warship."
"I was interrupted after my first sentence by the ambassador of Myanmar, who denounced the fact that France was sending a warship to Burma," French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters. "It's not true."
Ripert said the vessel is operated by the French navy, but is not a warship. It was carrying 1,500 tons of food and medicine, and has small boats that could deliver the aid to inaccessible areas. It also has small helicopters as well as doctors standing by to help.
The United States is also looking into sending aid without the approval of the Myanmar government. In Washington, a bipartisan group of 41 House members signaled an interest in an international intervention to deliver aid.
It has been almost three weeks since the cyclone hit Myanmar, causing 78,000 deaths. The earthquake in China was only a week ago and has already killed 21,500 people. These two events are tragic and horrible, but they seem to be only a continuation of the natural disasters that are striking our world. Earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes and tsunamis - all of these have struck with devastating numbers over the past five years. It is true that all of these events have happened in the past as well, but it seems that the disasters are coming at a much faster rate.
California has been lucky so far. However, a new statewide forecast released puts the probability for a quake of at least magnitude 6.7, the size of the 1994 Northridge quake that killed 72 people, at 99.7 percent sometime before 2037.
"It's near certainty that we're going to have a potentially damaging earthquake somewhere in the region in the next 30 years," said geophysicist Ned Field of the U.S. Geological Survey.
The study shows that Southern California's risk is slightly higher for a magnitude 6.7 or greater at 97 percent compared to northern California's 93 percent.
For even larger quakes of magnitude 7.5 or greater, the odds are tipped further in northern California's favor at 15 percent versus 37 percent for the southern half of the state.
The northern San Andreas relieved a lot of stress on Bay Area faults during the 1906 earthquake. But the southern San Andreas hasn't had a major jolt in more than 300 years.
This information, along with the string of other tragic natural disasters that have hit the globe, only proves that those in California need to be prepared for a big quake. Everyone should try and prepare themselves for what seems to be the inevitable.
All of our thoughts and hopes go to those still stranded and without aid in both Myanmar and China. We send our hearts to those who have lost loved ones in both of these, or any other, natural disaster.
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