National Flag Half-mast mourn Sichuan Earthquake Victims

Stock Photo ID: hkdigit-080519-081819

HONG KONG: 19 May, 2008 - All Chinese National flag kept at half-mast to mourn for Sichuan earthquake victims. Flags will be flown at half mask for three days, with three minutes of silence to be observed at 2:28 p.m., the time the earthquake hit on May 12.

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake at a magnitude 7.9 Mw, occurred at 14:28:01.42 CST (06:28:01.42 UTC) on 12 May 2008 in Sichuan province of China. In China, it was named the Wenchuan earthquake (汶川大地震), after the earthquake's epicenter in Wenchuan County in Sichuan province. The epicenter was 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, with a depth of 19 kilometres (12 mi).The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing (1,500 km away) and Shanghai (1,700 km away), where office buildings swayed with the tremor.

Official figures (as of May 18, 14:00 CST) state that 32,476 are confirmed dead, including 31,978 in Sichuan province, and 220,109 injured.The Chinese government warned that the death toll could soar to 50,000. Tens of thousands are missing, approximately 14,000 of them buried, and eight provinces were affected.It was the deadliest and strongest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed over 240,000 people.

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