Latest 15 of 25 Total Comments Show All

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  notimpressed at 11:14 AM JST - 13th May

  Well put Betzee, We all the same when our number is up. ALl debates where both sides are as bad as each other, do pale in significance when nature kicks us up the butt.

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  skipthesong at 11:26 AM JST - 13th May

  tako10: I wasn't here then, but my brother was and he told me rescue people were having problems getting their search and rescue dogs into the country, which only a long delay, some of them actually found people but it was too late. I hope China doesn't make the same mistake. I can't believe people are even putting the Olympics in the same conversation.

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  whitetrashed at 11:30 AM JST - 13th May

  My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this horrible event. I hope the chinese government can handle this event better than their communist brothers in Burma

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  Wakarimasen at 12:21 PM JST - 13th May

  You think thay will accept assistance from our local quake experts? Or from elsewhere overseas?

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  tclh at 12:23 PM JST - 13th May

  Well,the response of CCP leadership to this earth quake disaster seems to me all normal,efficient,between good an excellent.I am only curious that why don't they tell their followers like those in Burma,Darfur or Mugabe to be good and responsible?

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  Seiryu at 01:48 PM JST - 13th May

  I can't believe people are even putting the Olympics in the same conversation.

  Agreed. In tragic times like these, there should be no political or diplomatic considerations, only concern for the citizens who are affected. Most victims of any natural disaster have nothing to do with any national circumstances, all they want is a bottle of water, maybe a cloth bandage, and shelter.

  I wonder, is ICRC on this, or are they still held up with the Myanmar (Burma) hurricane aid situation?

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  ninjaboy at 02:22 PM JST - 13th May

  Was in the office on the 32F when the building started to shake in my city, near Shanghai. Managed to get the lift out of the building (yeah.., like thats a great idea - using the lift during a major seismic event). My Chinese collegues didn't budge in spite of my warnings about getting the hell out and asking 'whats happening?' later!!

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  SuperLib at 03:27 PM JST - 13th May

  I don't mean to sound heartless given the loss of life that is involved, but this humanitarian crisis will deflect attention away from an increasingly rancerous debate over China's system of governance and the upcoming Olympics.

  We'll be sure to keep our condolences brief so they don't get in the way of criticizing China (and the US) on completely unrelated issues.

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  mhalik at 03:49 PM JST - 13th May

  My condolences and prayers to the Chinese people. Hope that the government will give utmost priority to those affected, not like in Myanmar wherein their leaders still thinking about the referendum. IT IS A SHAME!!!

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  tako10 at 05:04 PM JST - 13th May

  So far, it is obvious the CCP has been doing a lot better job than Japan did at the time of the Hanshin earthquake. Right after the Hanshin earthquake, the Hyogo governor was so slow to ask for the SDF’s help.

  This time, the scale of the disaster is so immense that China alone may not be able to handle this massive disaster. I hope the CCP will ask for the help of other countries and the UN, and let foreign rescuers in if they haven’t done so.

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  Athletes at 06:42 PM JST - 13th May

  It is pretty sad and bring back the old memory of Kobe earthquake in 1994. How many people dead at the time? Was the response of the emergency service fast enough? Disaster region will rise again like Kobe. It is a life cycle of destruction and creation.

  I saw one local posted as 3 minutes earth quake like 30000 hours. If the earth quake take 7 mins, I can not imagine what will be like that?

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  Jyan_Bon at 07:44 PM JST - 13th May

  My heart goes out to those families effected by the quake in China. Atleast you have a rational, helpful government to deal with this tragic natural disaster,but poor Myanmar victims (1.5 millions)have not.

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  Betzee at 10:01 PM JST - 13th May

  It is pretty sad and bring back the old memory of Kobe earthquake in 1994.

  I think that was in early 1995 because I was working in China at that time. I heard about the earthquake on either VOA or BBC and informed my Chinese colleagues, who were surprised because the Chinese government had not broadcast this news. Back in those days they had a lock on the dissemination of information. That's no longer the case with the internet and sattelite TV reaching all corners of the country.

  Though its response may be found wanting, Beijing will not willfully interfere with outside relief efforts like the Burmese government. Yet devastating earthquakes also have a historic function of signifying those in power have lost "the mandate of heaven." The Tangshan earthquake in 1976, to which this is being compared, occurred weeks before Mao Zedong died.

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  OssanULTRA at 07:27 AM JST - 14th May

  It would be really interesting if China asked other nations for help to the extent that they asked Japan to send their GSDF troops. On one hand it would be the penultimate step in Hu Jing Tao's program of rebuilding Friendship and Trust between China and Japan. Particularly since the JSDF probaly has more accrued experience helping out after earthquakes than just about any military organization on this planet. On the other hand the rabid Chinese ultra-nationalists would all get their collective panties in a knot. Fortunately we may never have to tst this since the Chinese PLA together with the paramilitary police have more men than they can count.

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  WhiteHawk at 07:45 AM JST - 14th May

  Just saw the FoxNews website. 19,000 so far. Hopefully, the final numbers won't be anywhere near the 1976 quake.

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