The quake hits Yushu (榆樹藏族自治州) (April 14﹐2010)
--------(report from USC US-China Institute)
Nearly 1,800 people died in the quake that hit Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture 榆樹藏族自治州 in China’s southern Qinghai province on April 14.
The death toll might have been greater but for the fact that the 7:49 am quake struck well before the start of the work or school day. Clocks in Qinghai, like those throughout China, are set to Beijing time, but since Yushu is 1,905 kilometers (1,190 miles) west of Beijing, sunrise was about 7:05 am. Qinghai is a poor province and Yushu is an especially poor area. According to 2009 government statistics, Yushu’s per capita GDP was $1,455, about 39% of the $3,742 national average. Not surprisingly, many homes were built using unreinforced cement blocks or mud bricks. The quake reduced many of these to rubble. In one town, Jiegu, 85% of the homes are said to have been destroyed. Karamibu, a Tibetan plateau-based photographer visited Jiegu on April 17. (More)