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sichuan

A moment of silence, not even Googling, for earthquake victims

A week after the Sichuan earthquake lit up instant messengers and Twitter, Google statistics show a huge drop in searches during a national moment of silence.

Users apparently observed the silence while sitting at their computers. Meanwhile many people around the country paused.

My experience seems a bit odd in retrospect. Having just landed in Shenzhen, a Mainland metropolis across the border from Hong Kong, I found people at the pick-up area speechless, but surrounded by blaring bus horns. I considered the possibility that the sound, which I couldn't determine the source of at the time, was an air … Read more

Turning to Twitter after China quake

Editors' note: this post has been updated to reflect a new magnitude given to the earthquake. Although the earthquake was initially rated as a 7.8 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey updated it to 7.9 after a further review of the data.

The loss of life and damage in many cities in and around China's Sichuan province continues to grow after a 7.9 earthquake hit about 55 miles from the major city of Chengdu at 2:28 p.m. local time on Monday.

I live in Beijing, which is about 950 miles from the epicenter. Along … Read more

7.9 quake stuns Chinese tech region

Update at 1:50 p.m. PDT: Comment from Microsoft on minor damage from earthquake.

A massive earthquake struck Western China on Monday, killing more than 8,500 people and trapping more than 900 students in a high school, according to press reports.

The quake, which had a 7.9 magnitude, was centered in a mountainous region of the country in the Sichuan Province, according to The New York Times.

The epicenter was about 55 miles northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan--one of the country's most populated provinces. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake … Read more