Whether you are a reader in or out of China, please join me in observing this moment of silence and taking the time to remember the victims of last week’s tragedy and also consider how fortunate we are to not be in such circumstances.

Every day is a gift, and times like these remind me to live them as such.

More info about the notice here.

I had no idea.

At the time I would have been out getting Addie’s rabies shot and RF chip and though I can’t be certain, I assume I was on the road walking back home when it hit, but I didn’t notice a thing.

Reports from Shanghai and Beijing indicate that buildings shook for upwards of 2 minutes. Surely I should have noticed buildings swaying. But despite being closer to the

Strange.

This makes the third large-scale earthquake to hit Western China this year (one in January in Tibet and another in Xinjiang in March), but is the first to hit a heavily populated area. With Sichuan being China’s most populated province, and that population almost entirely housed in multi-storey apartment buildings (that seem shaky on a good day), it sadly leaves little question that the already massive death-toll is sure to continue to rise.

It also can’t help but bring to mind Tangshan, a city directly hit by an earthquake in 1976, which killed more than a quarter million people. Coincidentally, the initial quake in Tangshan also measured 7.8 on the Richter scale. In that case, and I pray not in this one, the death and damage severely increased when an aftershock hit the area 15 hours later.

For some detailed coverage of reports on the quake – check out this continually updated Shanghaiist article.

Here’s some YouTube coverage of the Sichuan quake:

Looking out my window it’s not hard to see why. Suzhou, a city that might see one light dusting of snow a year is covered in 2+ feet of the white stuff.

Needless to say, this is having a pretty rough effect on a city that has nothing to combat the powder with but for a few brooms attached to wide-eyed locals.

By no means is Suzhou alone in this odd meteorological whiteout, the snow has halted long-distance buses and a number of train lines both in Jiangsu province and across the country. With Spring Festival just over a week away, it couldn’t come at a worse time.

More than 130 trains were halted in Hunan province when ice and snow knocked out power. The trains, stopped on the main line between Beijing and Guangzhou, caused about 150,000 people to be stranded in Guangzhou’s train station. It is still so clogged with people that box lunches which usually go for < 10 RMB are now being sold for 50+ RMB, and are being gobbled up in a blink.

For myself, I'm battening the hatches and staying in doors - just praying that the massive amounts of ice and snow hitting the ill-equipped city don't knock out electricity and in turn my only sources of heat, entertainment and work.

Mags grabbed some photos on her mobile while trudging home from work this morning (click to big 'em):