Earthquake Update.

I wasn’t planning on blogging again before May 14, but in light of the earthquake, I’m going to drop in very quickly.

First: thanks to everyone who has emailed to ask whether I’m ok. I am. I was in Shanghai, at the corner of Fuxing Road and Maoming Road, when the quake happened. I didn’t feel anything major … at least, I don’t think so. But I was startled to see people rushing out of the Ruijin Building. Others have described a certain giddiness surrounding all of this – I must admit, the folks that I saw rushing out of the Ruijin were, well, giggling. That noted, I don’t think anybody was making light of this situation. I think it was nerves more than anything. A few minutes later I received my first earthquake-related text message.

It’s too early for specific earthquake-related disaster funds to have been established, so allow me to recommend that you consider giving a few dollars to the Red Cross International Response Fund. These amazing people are almost always the first – and last – responders in this kind of event, and you can bet they’ll have some role in Sichuan. Go to the US donation page here. The Hong Kong donation page is here. At the moment, I can’t access the China page. When I can, I’ll post an update.

[5/13: Still can’t get onto the Chinese Red Cross page. Probably overwhelmed at the moment. But anyway, here’s the link. Also, Shanghaiist has posted some donation links.]

Finally, a plug for Kenneth Tan’s ongoing liveblog of earthquake coverage. If you want to understand how the coverage for this event has evolved – and especially, how the internet and China’s famed “netizens are driving it – then have a look at Kenneth’s work. He deserves a medal for this.

[5/13: I’m reluctant to weigh in with any observations on this crisis, especially at this early stage, when the full scale is barely evident. That said, I don’t think that I’ll be the first to point out that low-quality construction materials and methods are playing a role in the scale of this disaster (even in a 7.9). A few of the photos that have emerged show crumbled concrete walls with very little rebar re-enforcing them. In March, I blogged about the low-quality steel being used in the majority of Shanghai construction projects. The post was based upon a Shanghai Daily article – which is no longer available to non-subscribers – in which government officials pointed out that low-quality steel performs poorly in earthquakes.]