Here is some video footage of the actual earthquake in Chendu, shot by a student at Sichuan University. Anybody understand the language? Although I imagine most of the remarks are of the “Oh shit” variety.

The CBC is reporting a minimum of 8500 fatalities from the 7.8 magnitude quake, which centered on Chendu, capital of Sichuan, but has taken lives in three separate provinces.

In one county of Sichuan — Beichuan — an estimated 80 per cent of buildings were reduced to rubble. The earthquake, felt as far away as Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam, struck about 100 kilometres northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website. It hit at 2:28 p.m. local time, when schools were full and office buildings were packed.

People were also killed in the provinces of Gansu and Yunnan, and the municipality of Chongquing…

The Global Disaster Alert and Co-ordination System (GDAC) issued a statement saying the quake could have a “high humanitarian impact” and spark deadly landslides. GDAC, which is run by the United Nations and European Commission, said while the epicentre was in a sparsely populated area, the nearby city of Chengdu is home to about 10 million people.
Thousands are dead after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck China on Monday.Thousands are dead after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck China on Monday. (CBC)

Calls to emergency response numbers in Chengdu rang constantly busy on Monday, as telephone and power networks appeared to be down in much of the area, making it difficult to get information about the disaster.

“In Chengdu, mobile telecommunication converters have experienced jams and thousands of servers were out of service,” said Sha Yuejia, deputy chief executive officer of China Mobile.

One Israeli student managed to text message the Associated Press from the city, saying there were widespread power outages and water outages.

“Traffic jams, no running water, power outs, everyone sitting in the streets, patients evacuated from hospitals sitting outside and waiting,” the student said.

The Guardian has additional details:

“We felt continuous shaking for about two or three minutes. All the people in our office are rushing downstairs. We’re still feeling slight tremblings,” said an office worker in Chengdu.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was centred 6 miles below the Earth’s surface.

In Sichuan, phone lines were cut and a website for the Aba prefecture, which includes Beichuan county, said the quake had severed several major highways in the region and communications were down in 11 counties.

A chemical plant collapsed in Shifang city, to the south-east of the epicentre, burying hundreds of people and sending more than 80 tonnes of toxic liquid ammonia leaking from the site, state media reported.

Video from Shanghai survivors:

And more video of an evacuation from an unknown location here.

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