How many buildings collapsed in the sichuan earthquake

In his blog, Ai has confirmed almost 5, pupil names and estimates that the toll could reach 8, He said that at least 20 of his helpers had been detained by local authorities. Tan Zuoren, who conducted his own investigation into 64 schools in the quake zone, has estimated that more than 5, pupils are dead or missing. Tan, who has since been detained on suspicion of subversion, said that number was incomplete.

The official China Daily newspaper today reported that a circular issued by the cabinet had ordered safety controls for the construction of schools to be strengthened. The circular those who engaged in illegal practices would be severely punished. Parents complained the schools were made of shoddy materials and an investigation was launched into why so many schools collapsed when other buildings remained standing.

Something is wrong with the concrete components and that might have been why the building was so weak. Two hundred died in the town of Wufu at Fuxin No.

Earthquakes in China: Historical Earthquakes in China drgeorgepc. On Earthquakes: U. Du depicts a world in chaos, both material and moral. The Great Sichuan Earthquake rocked China on May 12, at in the afternoon, leaving more than 69, people dead and 15 million displaced.

Ten days later, celebrated filmmaker Du Haibin arrived in Beichuan, the hardest-hit town, and began filming this remarkable documentary, capturing the stunned reactions of the villagers, the horrific damage to homes and livelihoods, and the torments that official media coverage overlooked. In May , provincial officials released the first official tally of student deathsalmost 14 months after the quake occurred saying that 5, children had been either killed or remain missing. Another were left disabled, they said.

Previous estimates placed the number of students who died in the collapse of school buildings as high as 10, Overall, government officials say that 70, people died during the May 12 Sichuan quake, and another 18, are listed as missing but are presumed to be dead. During a news conference in the city of Chengdu, Tu Wentao, head of the provincial education department, insisted that the student death figures were accurate. These numbers were reached through legal methods, he said.

We have wide agreement on these numbers. According to the official media, 7, classrooms collapsed during the quake and another 14, were damaged. Although the central government initially promised to investigate why so many schools fell while surrounding buildings remained intact, they have yet to release any results. In November , a government official said the final student death toll was 19,more than double previous estimates and one that would suggest that a quarter of earthquake victims were schoolchildren.

The news services estimated that about 9, to 10, of the 88, dead were schoolchildren. In mid , the Chinese government finally provided its tally of the number of schoolchildren that died in the earthquake. It said 5, students were killed, a number much lower than what news services were reporting.

The earthquake destroyed 7, classrooms. Some schools were completely flattened, in many cases while buildings that surrounded them were hardly damaged.

Other government buildings and schools that served the elite and children of Communist officials were damaged but remained standing and few people were killed or badly hurt in them. In Beichuan, a middle school collapsed, killing about 1, students and faculty members. The school was badly built, Nothing else around here collapsed. The use of low-grade cement and inadequate steel reinforcements was at best a dubious way to save money and at worst an irresponsible way to line the pockets of corrupt officials.

Peter Kwong that examines the school building damage and the suffering of parents who lost children. Official investigations were launched into the collapse of 10 schools in the city of Shifang Investigators checked blueprints and inspection documents and took samples of steel and concrete. In other places apparent cover ups were the order of the day with the rubble of schools quickly being bulldozed away after the quake, implying case closed, before investigators had a chance to take a careful look.

In September , The Chinese government said that a rush to build schools may have led to construction flaws that caused the buildings to collapse and said the main reason for the high number of collapsed schools was a lack of reinforcements in columns that supported classrooms. Engineers blamed poor urban planning and a lack of enforcement of building codes. One engineer told AP that in devastated Pingwu County schools were constructed near a river bend on unstable beds of sinking and shifting sands that shake particularly hard in earthquakes.

The middle school in Juyuan where nearly students died was built with prefabricated slabs of concrete and the main classroom building was built parallel to fault lines, causing it to shake violently during the quake. The building parallel to the fault collapsed while an adjacent one perpendicular to the fault remained standing. Juyuan Middle School, about 60 miles from the epicenter, was one of several schools that collapsed Monday. So far rescuers have recovered more than 60 bodies from the school, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

But there was little word on the rest of the nearly teenagers who were believed to be trapped under their collapsed school building. Some students managed to escape, while at least one was pulled out of the wreckage alive Tuesday morning. At least 1, students and teachers were killed or missing after another school collapsed in Mianyang city, about miles northeast of the epicenter, Xinhua reported.

Other schools closer to the epicenter also toppled, although specifics were not available because the area was generally inaccessible. Earthquake engineers say that constructing a building to resist a quake of magnitude 7 or 8 is possible, but is often considered cost prohibitive, adding 7 to 8 percent in costs.

Most seismologists interviewed say that China's quake code is adequate, if not the most up-to-date. Earthquake resistance, he notes, does not mean buildings don't sustain damage; they do, but don't collapse. Schools, he says, are particularly vulnerable because they are often mid-sized buildings, smaller projects for contractors that are paid for the a government bureaucracies. Two recent earthquakes in Indonesia and in Kashmir also resulted in a disproportionate student deaths.

China has "fairly rigorous building codes that have been in place. Roger Musson, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh , Scotland , notes that China has good earthquake engineers, but "you can never tell what's going to happen on the spot. In Turkey 's devastating earthquake, building codes were excellent, but "fly by night builders" had erected buildings using "extremely poor" materials, Mr.

Science Technology Business U. Southwest China earthquake collapses homes, kills at least 3. September 16, GMT. An earthquake collapsed homes, killed some and injured others Thursday in southwest China's Sichuan province, state media reported.