Sichuan Earthquake (14:28pm, May 12, 2008)

 Time:2008-05-17

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake , at a magnitude 7.9 Mw, occurred at 14:28:01.42
CST at 14:28pm, 12 May 2008 in Sichuan province of China. The earthquake's epicenter  is in Wenchuan County in Sichuan province.

The epicenter was 90 kilometres west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, with a depth of 19 kilometres. The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing (1,500km away) and Shanghai (1,700km away), where office buildings swayed with the tremor.
The earthquake was also felt in nearby countries.
Official figures (as of 15 May) state that about 20,000 are confirmed dead, including 19,509 in Sichuan province. The death toll could soar to 50,000.
Tens of thousands are missing, many 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 250,000 people. Which is one of the worst disasters in China history.
It has been estimated that as many as 4.9 million homes have been destroyed. One county is reporting that more than 80 percent of buildings have been destroyed. About total 40 millions people are affected. by the earthquake.
The earthquake was so powerful that skyscrapers swayed hundreds of miles away in Shanghai, and the shocks were felt as far away as Thailand and Vietnam. In the past a few days, we followed CCTV news about the development of rescue team to search survivors until the middle night. All of us were touched and shed the tears by what we saw, heard and read from TV, Radio and Newspaper.
We are very sorry about the grave misfortune in Sichuan. Our hearts and prayers are with the whole country during this very tragic time. After the event, the whole nation have showed such a great solidarity with each other.
The following day of the earthquake, PATENT also donated RMB 100,000 to the Red Cross for earthquake victims to rebuild their home. We will continue to donate more money as the rebuilding process proceeds.