Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW
China
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhuanet) -- "I'm a Malaysian. My
mom is one of a 26-tourist group to Sichuan. Her name is Yong Chew Ngor, please
contact me at km_thoo@yahoo.com," reads an internet message Monday.
The message is posted on "Looking for relatives
through Internet" -- a website section organized specially for survivors of
China's Sichuan earthquake of 8.0 magnitude that killed over 32,000 people
already.
Now many hundreds of people have already
left their messages on it, looking for their lost relatives in the quake
areas or trying to contact friends outside.
The fast-moving network is a powerful source of
firsthand accounts of the disaster, as well as rescue efforts and pleas for help
in the current disaster.
Facing the dreadful quake, netizens have made
good use of information technology, created sites and launched various
programs. Due to the dampened transportation and communication,
netizens proposed to offer possibly detailed information so that
rescuers can offer their help at an early time.
A netizen called "Yuanqing" published his phone
number and more than 20 people's names and phone numbers, writing that "If you
are alive, please call your family member or friends to say that you are safe;
if you happen to have news about these people, please call me."
"Maples all over Mountains" -- another
netizen -- issued 100 rescued victims' names and ages gained from a
Chengdu hospital, hoping to console their relatives throughout the
world: "your loved ones are alive."
"Stories that move you" is another welcome section on
the web. Netizens lose no time to read the stories such as those about
teachers who sacrificed themselves in protecting their students at the last
minute of their life, or information about medical staff, rescuers who
tried every effort to save the victms, and news about Chinese government
top leaders encouraging on the spot the people stranded under the toppled
buildings.
Donation proposals have also been made
as China's Red Cross' phone number and many other hotlines are posted.
People can deliver their money as soon as they want.
Many Chinese netizens propose adoping children
who lost their parents in the earthquake.
A netizen in central China's Hunan province has
already submitted her adoption application to the civil affairs authorities
in Sichuan Province. Along with her are more than 300 other loving netizens from
across the country.
For those survivals who lost their relatives and residence
or who witnessed bloody death in the disaster, psychological trauma might be
equally fatal. Netizens' advices for psychological treatment for them have
been collected and published on the websites.
Psychological treatment, the
netizens suggest, could offer a lot to the victims not only
in overcoming the present difficulty but a better understanding of
future life.
So far, 113,080 Chinese soldiers and armed police
have been mobilized to help with rescue operations.
Chinese netizens move to adopt
earthquake orphans
LANZHOU, May
16 (Xinhua) -- Many Chinese netizens have proposed adopting children who lost
parents in Monday's massive earthquake.
"I have been in tears in recent days. I pray for people in
quake zones and hope to adopt a child. My wife and I would love him or her like
my own child," a netizen Lizi wrote at the www.Tianyaclub.com online forum. Full story
Millions mourn China earthquake dead
with air sirens wailing in grief
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Millions of people in China
and overseas observed three minutes silence at 2:28 p.m. Monday to mourn
thousands of people killed in an earthquake which hit the nation's southwest a
week ago.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo,
Premier Wen Jiabao, and other top leaders including Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun,
Xi Jinping, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang also stood in silence in the central
government compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing. Full story
