Lack of Earthquake Equipment : News and Opinion

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Lack of Earthquake Equipment : News and Opinion

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The International Institute of Nonviolence.

By Rev. Jermano

According to the Guardian in this story we seem to be faced with no Real Heavy Earthquake Rescue Equipment to do relief operations for Earthquake Victims.  How long do we go on the road of irresponsibility in not knowing that our war in the world is not against terrorists,  but is a war against the worlds lack of fuel energy resources, and at war in bringing relief to people in distress because of Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Floods, Tornado's,  and Tsunamis's.

Shouldn't armies throughout our International World become Relief Rescuers'  instead of soldiers? We spend millions on how to kill people, but don't know a piece of chalk about how to save peoples lives. We spend billions on tanks and ships, and missiles, and building nuclear reactors, and yet spend nothing for essential heavy duty Earthquake Rescue Equipment that can get the job done in picking up large pieces of cement and getting through the rubble to rescue people.

Where are the engineers that create the new Equipment? I am talking about payloads where jaws on buckets can lift torn up solid pieces of debris with no problem. They make huge monster dump trucks with tires as tall as a tree, but there is nothing to use to move earthquake rubble. These machines would have robot arms that can cut through steel and have a type of conveyor that moves debris behind it, as it scoops up more stuff, vibrates it loose, and is capable of unearthing the collapse buildings in order to get people out. We have failed again. Katrina, and all the years of disasters have not told us what we need to do?

Let's go!  you so called Private Leaders of the Free World, and developing countries. Time to stop the politicking and get to work in helping to save people in the world. I blame the USA  more than developing countries, because the US pushes their failed policies across the world. Deliver humanitarian aid from a WARSHIP? It's like getting help from a mugger!

I just think making World Disaster Heavy Equipment and drilling wells for Geothermal Energy would create safe and sufficient energy to avert earthquakes and volcano's; along with being able to rescue people. Geothermal is safer than giant hydropower dams, and nuclear facilities who become hazards and weaken due to earthquakes. This would be a step in the right direction. We need to learn to live with disasters while being able to rescue people safely and quickly. Where is the leadership in helping the people? They are fighting false wars with each other.

The Guardian's report:

Government appeals for rescue equipment as time runs out to find China quake survivors.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/16/chinaearthquake.china1?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

· Estimate of final death toll raised to 50,000
· Shortages of water and medical supplies reported

• Jonathan Watts in Mianyang
  
• The Guardian,
  
• Friday May 16 2008
  
• Article history

About this articleClose
This article appeared in the Guardian on Friday May 16 2008 on p21 of the International section. It was last updated at 10:14 on May 20 2008.

The Chinese government made an emergency appeal for cranes and heavy lifting equipment yesterday amid warnings that time is running out to rescue survivors from Monday's huge earthquake.

As the state media raised estimates of the final death toll to 50,000, troops, emergency personnel and volunteers continued to find people alive, trapped under collapsed buildings.

Dramatic footage broadcast by the state-run China Central Television network showed a young woman waving weakly from under slabs of concrete at the site of a devastated hospital in Dujiangyan. She was eventually freed by rescue workers - one of at least three people found alive three days after the 7.9 magnitude quake that churned up large swaths of Sichuan province in south-west China.

But far more bodies than survivors are being uncovered. The official death toll rose by almost a third yesterday to 19,509. About 30,000 others are believed to be buried under mountain landslides and collapsed structures.

The People's Liberation Army has dispatched tens of thousands of troops to the affected areas, but the lack of heavy equipment has hampered relief efforts.

In a possible sign of a rift over the rescue operation, the Phoenix news website ran a story claiming that the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, shouted at PLA generals in a telephone conversation soon after the quake.

Frustrated at reports that a broken bridge was preventing aid supplies from reaching 100,000 people in Pengzhou, the premier reportedly said: "I don't care how you do it. I just want those 100,000 people out of danger. That is an order." He then abruptly rang off, according to the report.

The defence ministry said yesterday it would deploy an extra 101 helicopters to help reach remote mountain communities cut off by the quake.

But even the world's biggest army is ill equipped to deal with the devastation of an estimated 4m homes across hundreds of miles of often mountainous terrain.

In a rare public appeal, the government called for donations of rescue equipment, including rubber boats, demolition tools, shovels and mobile phones. The ministry of information industry's website said that 100 cranes were needed. They ought to be available as China is in the midst of a construction boom that has made it home to more of the world's cranes than any other country.

The state media has emphasised the public-spiritedness of blood donors and donations of food, clothes and water. Health officials say they need more medical supplies for what is expected to be a long campaign to treat injuries and ward off disease.

"This is only a beginning of this battle, and a long way lies ahead of us," the vice health minister, Gao Qiang, told reporters in Beijing.

"We will never give up hope," he said. "For every thread of hope, our efforts will increase a hundredfold."

The roads of north-west Sichuan are filled with convoys of army trucks and volunteer vehicles, many adorned with red banners proclaiming the names of the donor company or work unit.

But several communities report shortages of water. Bodies are still being piled up on streets for removal by trucks or burial in pits.

Fears of a knock-on disaster persist. Officials said they have dealt with the cracks that have appeared at the giant Zipingpu dam near Dujiangyan, but warn of the possible collapse of other hydropower plants near the epicentre in Wenchuan county.

"The damage from the quake is extensive and the hazards are unclear," the minister for water resources, Chen Lei, said.

The safety of nuclear facilities is another worry. Mianyang hosts China's leading nuclear weapons research, development and testing facility, the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics. Officials at the site refused entry to the Guardian, but from the outside the structures appeared undamaged.

In other areas the Chinese authorities have been praised for their openness. Putting aside historical enmity, Beijing has accepted an offer from Japan of an emergency rescue team.

But the authorities are taking firm steps to prevent the earthquake causing social instability. Amid concerns of inflation, the government has capped the price of food, water and transport in Sichuan and neighbouring Gansu province. According to the state media, 17 people have been punished for profiteering.

· This article was amended on Tuesday May 20 2008. We said there were reports of a broken bridge preventing aid supplies from reaching 100,000 people in Hangzhou. The reports related to Pengzhou, not Hangzhou, which is in eastern China. This has been corrected.