2008 China Quake

(Newser) - Some parents who lost their state-mandated only child in China’s May earthquake—which crushed at least 19,000 students under shoddy school buildings—are rushing to conceive again, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Chinese government announced an exemption from its one-child policy for such victims, and more than 800 have already registered their desire to get pregnant again. More »

(Newser) - An angry mob of some 2,000 people stormed Communist Party headquarters in a city in China's Gansu province last night to protest a decision to move the town's quake-damaged administrative center. The protest turned violent when officials refused to listen to complaints that families would have to move to get help, and called in armed police to disperse the protest in Longnan, one of several communities hit by last spring's devastating earthquakes, CNN reports. More »

(Newser) - A Chinese official admitted today that shoddy construction led to the collapse of some schools during last May’s earthquake, which killed thousands of children. “The structures were not necessarily reasonable and the materials were not necessarily strong enough,” the chairman of the government’s quake probe conceded, reports the BBC. More »

(Newser) - A 5.7 earthquake struck an area near Panzhihua City in southwest China yesterday, killing at least 22 people and destroying 1,000 homes in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, reports the Los Angeles Times. Rescue teams were racing to the area to help at least 126 injured. Heavy rains and difficult terrain were delaying relief efforts, officials said. Some 70,000 people were killed in Sichuan province when a massive earthquake struck in May. More »