14 Comments Add your own

• 1. Jesse Bilsten  |  May 19th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

  I recently received an email (chain) that explained that the best way to survive an earthquake isn’t to stand under a doorway or under a desk but instead NEXT TO either a wall or sturdy object. That way you’re in a triangular pocket that’s created when rubble comes down. A fireman had discovered this in his many years as a rescue agent and is pushing to have schools amend their fire drills.

  It sounds like this couple was also lucky enough to find the same style pocket between a table and the floor. It mentioned that there was a large concrete slab that was across their top. Very very lucky.

  The earthquake was a huge tragedy and probably only the beginning of an even bigger economic wave soon to become apparent from this huge shock. Will prices go up all over the world as workers in China don’t report to work? Factories stop producing? How big of an impact will it be… Now that we’re so closely tied to China it might even be larger than expected.

• 2. Simeon Trieu  |  May 20th, 2008 at 12:33 am

  Amazing story. But like they said in the article, there are many who were not as fortunate as this couple, being trapped with any space at all. Most were crushed and killed. My prayers are with the people of China and Myanmar.

• 3. Sin-Yaw Wang  |  May 20th, 2008 at 8:18 am

  I heard the Chinese version and their dialog in native tongue. Quite impactful.

• 4. Robyn Bowie  |  May 21st, 2008 at 1:01 pm

  Wow what an amazing story. It is so sad how devastating that earthquake was for so many people. They were very lucky to have had each other and to have been saved out of the rubble that amazingly didn’t crush them. My thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy.

• 5. Dena Malloy  |  May 29th, 2008 at 9:19 pm

  We spend a lot of time writing about the differences between the east and west. This article highlights the universal story of the human fight for survival no matter the odds. I am sure that all parents especially would be having the same thoughts.

• 6. Andria Greenlee  |  May 30th, 2008 at 9:20 am

  Wow, this article gave me the chills. I think Dena said it best that this is an example of the universal human instinct to survive. I am sure that there are many similar stories of people’s fight for life when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11. Despite the fact that these survivors come from completely opposite ends of the earth, I am sure the thoughts going through their heads were quite similar to those of this couple.

• 7. Chris White  |  May 30th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

  Amazing story of survival. I’m sure there are many more out there with similar experiences. It is incredible to think that the man was so close to giving up. It must have seemed liked a lifetime before help arrived.

  I think Naomi mentioned that people living in coastal cities like Beijing and Shanghai had no knowledge of the severity of the devastation that occured. How could this happen? I am sure that many of the residents in the cities have family members living in the West. Nonetheless it seems that China, its government and its citizens, are split between the developed coastal cities and the less developed interior.

• 8. Chris Kirk  |  June 5th, 2008 at 3:43 pm

  An inspiring story. I can’t help but think of what would happen in a earthquake of this magnitude hit a developed country such as the United States. It seems that a more developed infrastructure of roads and buildings will prevent a lot of the structure failures that led to the high loss of life due to the earthquake. In addition, the quicker response of emergency service personnel would probably also save more lives. The earthquake was an unbelievable tragedy but it also serves as a bit of a reminder that China although growing rapidly has a long way to go before all the modern infrastructure issues are fixed throughout…..not just in the more developed regions.

• 9. Glenn Hughes  |  June 10th, 2008 at 7:17 pm

  What an incredible story this couple has to tell. With the sheer numbers of injuries and magnitude of the quake there have to be thousands of similar stories to Ms. Li and Mr. Wang.

• 10. Steve Munio  |  June 12th, 2008 at 2:04 pm

  I agree with Chris Kirk and also wonder what the response in the United States would be. Our architecture is definitely more stable in earthquake-prone areas and that would prevent some loss of life for sure, but I wonder how our emergency services and government aid response would compare. Chris K. mentions a “quicker response of emergency services” however with the Katrina disaster, shadowed by the following Katrina aid response disaster, I’m not so confident in FEMA anymore. I wonder if China suffers the same issue, of selective regions (based on the economic demographics) enjoying more relief attention while others are left to rot.

• 11. Mark Fairman  |  June 12th, 2008 at 2:47 pm

  I wonder what affect the earthquake might have on building codes in China. It seems that every time a natural disaster occurs in the US, it spurs new debate about what is sufficient for safety in the built environment. The earthquake that killed two people in Paso Robles a few years ago brought new attention to unreinforced masonry building in San Luis Obispo. China does have very similar building codes to the US for new construction, (which are largely influenced by the codes of other countries), but with so many structures built prior to these adopted rules, any disaster seems to cause a huge amount of destruction. I wonder if they will ever implement a nation-wide remodeling agenda that will require increased structural capabilities.

• 12. William Jencks  |  June 12th, 2008 at 11:36 pm

  Mark - I was wondering the same thing about the building codes. I did some further research on the “triangle of life” email that Jesse referenced, talking about the gaps formed next to furniture, etc… in earthquakes. While the recommendations in that email are sometimes valid, they only really apply to structures that are substandard. I have seen many pictures of these large Corbusier-like “worker’s dormitories”, and have always wondered how the building codes actually effect construction in China. Are they actually enforced as strictly as they are in the US? I guess even if they are a 7.8 mag earthquake could do some serious damage. Amazing story about the escape - I can’t imagine the relief someone feels when they are pulled out of concrete rubble after a day of being trapped.

• 13. gary chou  |  June 13th, 2008 at 1:29 am

  Jesse, you said you heard that in China people are instructed to stand next to a sturdy object, instead of under a door or desk…was essentially a non-issue. They are basically the same thing. The point of standing under a door is because that’s usually the location where stanchions are located. It is the more sturdy part of the building. The desk one is just something they teach school kids because there are too many people in the same room, you can’t have everyone to move under a door. Under the desk at least prevent dropping of light bulbs in small quake.

  Standing next to the wall has the same effect as the door, but it all depends on the magnitude of the earthquake. The real advice that is different in China is actually this: RUN OUT!

  yes, the real advice that people tell each other after the quake (and in all the after shock) was that, they simply ran out!

  This is an advice that American will never give and simply warned against by all earth quake teaching material even in China. Because in a quake, you will most likely be hit by the things that drop from the surface of the building when you run out.

  However, if the quake is so bad that the collapse of the building is actually going to happen, then, by all mean run! Run and get killed by falling debris, you will have a better chance surviving than buried by 1 millions tons of cements.

  So I guess advices are all different based on the level of the quake. In a small quake, u won’t get hurt no matter what you do. In a medium quake, you want to duck under table or seat if you are in a large room (such as movie theatre), but next to a wall if you are in a small room. If there are very little people, then go under the door. But in large quake, well, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

  How do you know if a large quake is coming? If the electricity goes off before the quake. If electricity goes off a few second before the quake, it means the quake is so bad that it already collapsed electrical towers far away. Since electricity travels faster than the wave of quake, you will see power going off before feeling the quake.

  Once the quake start after electricity goes off, you know you better run or you will get buried. (Well, that’s if you are living in a collapsible building in China.)

  Back to the article. There have been so many heart wrenching stories/pictures about survival. I just simply could not let myself read/watch them. It’s just too much to take.

• 14. Matt Fencl  |  June 13th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

  The earthquake in China was tragic in my mind for two reasons. The first is that it resulted in the deaths of nearly 90,000 people. The second is that the majority of the world didn’t care. I watch CNBC everyday during lunch to keep in touch with what’s happening in the markets and international news. During the time when the devastation of the earthquake was being realized by the world, it was not covered for more than a minute or two each day during the hour I would watch. When it was talked about, it was only to reference to what effect the earthquake would have on the stock market. Now I know that CNBC news focuses on financial news, but the fact that the deaths so many people are only mentioned in passing when discussing other subjects is a little depressing.

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