5.12.2008

7.8 earthquake on Monday

There was a large earthquake about 6 miles below the surface, NW of Chengdu - in the Sichuan Province in China. It was felt as far away as Beijing, Bangkok, Hanoi & Taipei! The extent of damages are unknown at this point, but check Fox News for updates. There are also other great online news reports. We did not happen to notice the quaking - which happened around 2:30pm BJ time. Please be thinking of the people there!

**Updated - over 8,000 people have died and many more are still trapped/missing. Buildings in some of the rural counties near the epicenter had as much as 80% of their buildings collapse according to some reports. It is the biggest earthquake to hit China in a very long time. We did not feel it at all though we have friends in the area of the quake.