Canadian Prof Reports on China Quake
Canwest Digital Media
“The first full day after the earthquake had come and gone with many tense moments, and the growing sense of what has gone on around us. Even though the University here has declared the student dorms safe for return, the Chinese students seem to have decided on their own to stay clear of many of the buildings. Most of the green space, recreation space, and any space that keeps the rain away have become makeshift tent cities where students have taken shelter. Some people have tarps, but most are making shelters from anything that is available, including bunches of umbrellas. It is becoming clear that we were relatively lucky compared to people even within 20 minutes from here.
“We are indoors tonight, mainly due to the fact that it is cold and rainy outside. We are all on the second floor of the International Residence, a short run down the stairs to the door, which opens into a courtyard. We have made this run about 6 or 7 times today when aftershocks have hit. Strangely now though, when the tremors are small, we all just congregate at the top of the stairs and talk about how this particular shake-up doesn’t require the run down the stairs.
“Another interesting thing we have figured out is that we cannot trust ourselves to detect the tremors. This is mainly due to false alarms, which is something we are all experiencing, particularly when we lay down to try and nap. A more reliable system we have devised is to place a glass (or a bottle) of water on the ground or on a desk whenever we are in our rooms, or anywhere indoors. The tremors cause very clear ripples in the water, and so it has become a bit of a joke among us now how much time we spend staring at water.
“It has also become clear that sitting and waiting is not helping anyone. Tonight we decided as a group that tomorrow morning we are going to downtown Chengdu to donate blood. My hope is that contributing to the relief effort will give us a sense of power in a situation that has led us all to feel quite powerless.”
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