Beijing - No significant precursory seismic activity was detected that could have allowed the Chinese government to issue a clear warning before the devastating earthquake in the south-western province of Sichuan, a leading international seismologist said on Friday.
View from the top of the dam of the Zipingpu water Reservoir in the Minjiang River Grand Canyon in Sichuan province, Sichuan province, southwestern China, 16 May 2008. The Zipingpu water reservoir is a large scale reservoir upstream from Dujiangyan, only 20 -30km away from the epicenter. The Ministry of Water Resources claims the dam is currently stable. EPA/WU HONG
at all that you would regard as precursory,'

By John Ruwitch BEICHUAN, China (Reuters) - China struggled to bury its dead and help tens of thousands of injured and homeless on Friday when a powerful aftershock brought new havoc four days after an earthquake thought to have killed more than 50,000.
President Hu Jintao flew to the battered province of Sichuan and Premier Wen Jiabao said the quake damage could exceed the devastating 1976 tremor in the northeastern city of Tangshan that killed up to 300,000 people.
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By DAVID BARBOZA BEIJING — In what seemed a miraculous tale of survival four days after a powerful earthquake devastated a mountainous region of southwest

By Eugene Tang and William Bi May 16 (Bloomberg) - Lan Shaoming was 7 years old when an earthquake killed 250,000 people in his hometown of Tangshan in 1976. This week, he drove 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) to Sichuan to deliver instant noodles and bottled water to victims of China's latest quake.
``I just remember how frightened I was, so I can understand how people here must be feeling,'' said Lan, stopping to pick up a couple going to Beichuan to look for their daughter, a high- school teacher in the devastated town. ``A lot of us feel compelled to do something.''
chuan may reach 50,000, state- run Xinhua News Agency reported.

A devastating earthquake that jolted Wenchuan county and other adjacent areas in western China on May 12 has filled people around China with a gnawing worry. It reminds people of another quake that had hit the city of Tangshan in north China's Hebei province 32 years ago. Both are major quakes measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale.
Thirty-two years ago, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the sleeping city of Tangshan in the wee hours of early morning. Then, it was Li Yulin, a Tangshan resident, who reported the occurrence of the quake to central authority. Right after the tremor, he stopped an ambulance on the way, embarked on it, and four hours later reached Zhongnanhai in

As soldiers carry a survivor of a collapsed school, at far left, another laments her missing child.
Ian Teh for TIME
the May 12 earthquake. He's looking for his grandson but not really expecting to find him. "After the quake hit, I ran to the school and started removing rubble," Zhang says. "I uncovered several children. Some were dead, some still alive. But I couldn't find my grandson." Unlike many others waiting in the steady drizzle, Zhang seems to have accepted that his grandson probably won't make it out alive. When a neighbor asks about the boy, Zhang replies flatly, "He's dead."

By Jason Subler BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) - Foreign investors will probably come away from the devastating earthquake that hit China this week more reassured than shaken, thanks to the government's quick and open response.
The 7.9 magnitude quake that struck south-western Sichuan province on Monday, with its epicentre in a relatively remote, mountainous area, has had a bigger impact on human life than on the economy.
de, relatively positive feelings about how the government's responded to the earthquake and how it's marshalled its resources."

BEIJING, May 14 (Reuters) - Corruption and lax enforcement of stringent building codes could be important factors behind many of the collapsed buildings in China's worst earthquake in decades, an expert said on Wednesday.
Monday's 7.9 magnitude tremor levelled factories, homes, schools and hospitals across China's southwest Sichuan province, killing nearly 15,000 people. The toll is expect to rise since many thousands are still trapped under rubble.
of local subcontractors, a practice that leads to shortcuts and the use of substandard materials as each contractor takes his share of the project's budget, said Howlett.

I was five years old when the Great Tangshan Earthquake struck in the summer of 1976. Half of the country was mobilized to take steps in case there was another quake. I remember sleeping on a commuter bus parked on the college campus where my parents were working, and some families lived in tents for days.
The Tangshan Earthquake was one of my first memories, and like any five-year-old, I didn't really understand what had happened. I was excited about having so many friends on the bus -- it was like a big sleepover, and I could play until late in the evening.
dding: "Don't know if it's raining in Wenchuan." (That was the epicenter, less than 100 miles from Chengdu.)

By MARTIN SIEFF WASHINGTON, May 14 (UPI) - The tragic earthquake Monday in the Beichuan county of Sichuan province in southwest China will cast its shadow over the coming Olympic Games in Beijing.
China's official Xinhua news agency Monday reported the Sichuan provincial government is saying 8,533 people were known for sure to have died in the quake, but the figure looks certain to rise dramatically in the coming days. The final death toll could be three or four times as many.
e quake could inflict so much heartbreaking carnage at that distance, the odds are likely that similar tragedies will be uncovered in the area in coming days, propelling the death toll ever higher. By 1:30 p.m. EDT, Xinhua had reported at least five more collapsed schools in Deyang city.

By Nigel Pankhurst The UK's Chinese community has reacted with understandable sadness, but also hope following the devastating earthquake in China's