More than 193 people were killed and over 11,000 injured after a strong quake struck Lushan County, Ya’an City, Sichuan Province on Saturday morning. The 7.0-magnitude* earthquake hit Lushan County at 8:02 a.m. Of the more than 11,393 people injured, 200 were severely hurt. The epicenter* of the quake, with a depth of 13 km, was monitored at 30.3 degrees north latitude* and 103.0 degrees east longitude*. It was one of the most destructive* earthquakes in China in recent years. President Xi Jinping on Saturday ordered all-out* efforts to rescue victims and minimize deaths and injuries. Premier Li Keqiang arrived at the epicenter on Saturday afternoon and he later visited the townships of Shuangshi and Longmen which were severely affected.

    People-finders help track lost relatives

    The Ministry of Public Security has offered people-finding services on platforms including Sohu.com, Google.com, So.com, Sina Weibo, Qq.com and Baidu.com.

    As of 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sohu.com and Google.com had received about 2,000 and 1,000 quake-related messages, respectively.

    And, as of Saturday midnight, more than 4,000 netizens in quake-affected areas had posted messages on Baidu.com, saying they were OK.

    Young heroes

    A 19-year-old Lushan man named Wang Jiaoxiong dug through debris* and rescued his mother on Saturday after the earthquake damaged his house, according to the Yangtze Evening Post. Wang was sleeping when the house started to shake and ran out immediately — but soon realized that his mother had been knocked down by a falling wall. He rushed back and started to remove bricks with his bare hands.

    Elsewhere in Lushan, an elderly woman in Xinlong Village was pulled out from the debris by her two grandchildren after the earthquake struck. Yang Gui was about to cook for her grandchildren when the village started to shake. After she was buried in the rubble of her severely damaged home, she managed to cry for help — and her grandchildren Luo Linhai and Jiang Qingmei, both junior high students, heard her. They removed bricks and stones with the help of neighbors in order to rescue their grandmother.

    Birth of a baby

    As the number of dead and missing after Saturday’s earthquake in Sichuan Province continued to rise, causing sadness and consternation around the country, the birth of a baby girl shortly after the disaster provided a glimmer of hope.

    The baby was born in a makeshift* operating room that was set up in Ya’an People’s Hospital.

    She was the first baby born in the area after the 7.0-magnitude quake struck Lushan County of Ya’an City at 8:02 a.m. on Saturday. The baby was born about two hours after the quake and the mother named the girl “Zhensheng,” which means “born on the day of the quake.”

    Celebrities donate for quake relief efforts

    Some Chinese celebrities have made monetary donations to quake-hit areas in Sichuan Province.

    Benshan Media, a media group run by popular comedian Zhao Benshan, donated 3 million yuan on Sunday, with 2 million yuan from Zhao and 1 million yuan jointly donated by his students Xiao Shenyang, Song Xiaobao and Wang Xiaoli.

    Others from the entertainment world, such as Zhao Wei, Jet Li and Han Hong, all made monetary donations.

    Meanwhile, well-known writer Han Han suggested that celebrities should not go to the disaster area for the time being as they could unwittingly have a negative effect on relief work.

    A model roommate

    One student of the Arts and Science College of Sichuan Normal University has been hailed as “the best roommate in China” after a photo of him holding laptops and carrying a box with a turtle in it was posted online.

    He apparently removed six laptops, three digital single lens reflexes (SLR*), and a turtle — some of these belonging to his roomates — as their dormitory began to shake. Amid a series of stories of campus crime in China, his actions have provided some inspiration.

    (SD News)