Latest Sichuan Stories
The May 12 earthquake that rocked Sichuan Province in China was the first there in recorded history and unexpected in its magnitude. Now a team of geoscientists is looking at the potential for future earthquakes due to earthquake-induced changes in stress.Around the world, earthquakes like the one in China are associated with triggered aftershocks that are very large. In 1999, a 7.1 earthquake in Duzce, Turkey, followed a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Izmit, Turkey. In 2004, an 8.7 magnitude...
Debris blasted to ease pressure on rising lake in China's quake zone QINGCHUAN, Sichuan, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Engineers on Wednesday blasted blockages on a river at risk of bursting its banks and threatening 160,000 people in southwest China's earthquake-battered Sichuan Province. The Qingjiang River, near Qingchuan County, where more than 4,600 died in the May 12 earthquake, was blocked in several places by rock slides, causing three "quake lakes" formed after the May 12 earthquake....
Could be a long wait before next big temblor according to first scientific look at quakeA new analysis of the setting for last month's devastating earthquake in China by a team of geoscientists at MIT shows that the quake resulted from faults with little seismic activity, and that similar events in that area occur only once in every 2,000 to 10,000 years, on average.However, the researchers caution that because earthquakes can sometimes occur in clusters, people should still be wary of...
Text of report by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) [Xinhua report by unnamed staff reporter: "Xi Jinping Meets Sichuan Earthquake Inspection Groups From Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions"] Chengdu, 29 Jun (Xinhua) -Vice President Xi Jinping met with Sichuan Earthquake Inspection Groups of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in Dujiangyan, Sichuan on 28 June respectively led by HKSAR...
China training medical staff to help traumatized quake survivors BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Health said on Thursday that a psychological training program for medical workers in the quake zone has started, Scores of well-known Chinese specialists in psychiatry and psychology will be invited to participate. The program will have seven terms, each of which will train 80 to 100 people. The courses will be held in six areas hit worst by the May 12 disaster: Dujiangyan,...
China's major panda reserve resumes field inspection after quake CHENGDU, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Staff at Wolong nature reserve, a major habitat of giant pandas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, have resumed field inspections to evaluate the living environment of the endangered species. Despite frequent landslides and mudslides, a 26-strong team has struggled in the past five days to collect first-hand evidence of damage to the giant panda's habitats, said officials at Wolong National...
China Focus: China plans to turn main "quake lake" into scenic spot CHENGDU, June 23 (Xinhua) -- China plans to turn the Tangjiashan "quake lake" into a scenic spot amid efforts to rebuild a county downstream, a local official said on Monday. Experts were now studying how to develop the lake, which was formed by the May 12 earthquake, in a "comprehensive" and "scientific" way, said Chen Xingchun, secretary general of the Communist Party Committee of Mianyang City in the southwestern...
All remaining giant pandas at a major breeding base in China's earthquake-devastated Sichuan Province will be evacuated as landslides and other post-quake dangers remain a significant threat, China's Chengdu Business Daily reported Tuesday. The decision to evacuate the pandas followed conclusions by experts that Sichuan province's terrain was still too hazardous for the Pandas and their keepers."The threats to safety from geological hazards in the Hetaoping Center's location are very...
Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post website on 20 June [Report by Shi Jiangtao in Beijing: "Greens Demand Halt To 'Feverish' Dam Building"; headline as provided by source] Mainland experts, environmental groups and activists have urged the government to review plans to build big dams in the earthquake- prone southwest. An open letter issued yesterday [19 June] appealed to mainland authorities to launch risk assessments of big hydropower projects in...
To: TRAVEL EDITORS Contact: Kevan Goff-Parker, Communications, State and Local Government and Global Corporate Citizenship for the Northwest Region of Boeing, +1-296-766-2906 SEATTLE, June 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) partnered with Shenzhen Airlines and the Washington- Sichuan Friendship Association June 6 to load 5,872 pounds of vented cone masks and coveralls into the airline's new Boeing 737-800. The newly purchased materials, which will help earthquake...
Latest Sichuan Reference Libraries
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), also known as the panda, is a species of bear that is native to southwestern and central western areas of China. Its range includes mountain ranges located primarily in Sichuan province, but pandas can also be found in the Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It once preferred a habitat within lowland areas, but human encroachment has driven the giant panda into small areas, which contain forested habitats. There are two recognized subspecies of the giant...
Gigantspinosaurus, meaning "giant spined lizard", is a genus of stegosaur dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period. It was found in the Upper Shaximiao Formation of Zigong, Sichuan, China. It is known from a partial skeleton missing most of the skull, hind feet, and tail. The type species, G. sichuanensis, was described in 1992. It was known as Nomen nudum until 2006. This dinosaur had a unique appearance. It had small dorsal plates and large shoulder spikes (or spines). The spines were...
The Chinese Prickly Ash or Flatspine Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum simulans) is a species of flowering plant native to eastern China and Taiwan. It is one of several plants of Zanthoxylum from which Sichuan Pepper is produced. It is a small spreading tree that grows to 23 feet tall. Its leaves are 2.75 to 5 inches long and pinnate (having parts of a leaf arranged on both sides of the stem). Each leaf has 7 - 11 small leaflets that are each 1.25 to 2 inches long. There are numerous spines on the...
