Earthquake in China

[Michele Alexander (Voden)]

It is really depressing/scary to watch the news these days.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those in China after their devastating earthquake.

[SandyB]

Yes sadly so , mother nature moves in her cycles .. our planet is forever changing , and where we find ourselves upon it by birth, nationality ,choice or whatever. decrees what is to be  thrown at us  ?? .  Thankfully most of the african continent and europe  is largely untouched by disasters of such magnitude .. take America with its twisters .. . yet people choose to stay on in those disaster prone areas ?? I suppose its part of humanities  ability to have hope .. peronally I would not be able to deal with  seeing what I ahve built up be wrecked time and again .. but then I suppose change  and renewal is also part of the process for some ??  its maybe where they suposed to be ?? really dont know .. but me .. I would move on and find  somewhere else ?? 
And yes my deepest thoughts of empathy go out to all those struck by disaster on such a scale

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

My thoughts and prayers as well.  You always think these things will never happen to you but as Sandy says Nature has its ways.Who knows she may just choose the African Continent one day, I pray not.  I can't get my mind around so many deaths over 12 000. 19 000 people buried under rubble in one city alone. Only 2 000 found alive in a town 0f 12 000.

Has the News always been so depressing or I'm I just more aware of these things. Here we go another 80 people killed in a bomb blast in Jaipur India.
We have so much to be thankfull for in our lives right now.

[Michele Alexander (Voden)]

"We have so much to be thankfull for in our lives right now."

Pretty much the same as what Mike said. We take far too much for granted in our lives and moan about the small things!

This earthquake reminds me of the Tsunami.

To be honest I hate watching the news because it is just all so bad. I just heard on the news today about Schalk Burger's 20 year old sister that was abducted and raped in Cape Town.

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

Yes, her name was released to-day . Horrific...
I was never one for the news but since I stopped work to look after Morgan I decided I should read the papers everyday so that I would have some constructive input  when socializing. Other than how many poo's she made etc.

[SandyB]

Actually if  you  read about that .. she is a shining light a true heroine .. a survivor who chose not  to be victim ... again the human  trait of HOPE AND TRUIMPH  OVER ADVERSITY .. ..  . talking about the Tsunami ..  I had issue when I went to Thailand  in 2006 october .. these people had just come through a huge disaster .. what did they do .. they picked themselves up ,, dusted off and proceeded to build up again .. I went to a few  major temples .. and all I saw was impassive gods looking down on people offering all sorts of things  material  and their souls as well ..  initially i got angry .. then I was struck by  this gentle nations humility .. I in turn felt small  and insignificant  in comparison to them ,,  in  fact humbled  ...  I am going back in October again and this time I will connect on a different and more open  level ... not the average tourist ..

[Rhona]

What part of Thailand Sandy - I went to Puket the year before last.............loved every second of it

[SandyB]

Cape Panwa  .. southernmost tip of Phuket island .. far away from the madding crowd .. private beach .. etc yet within 20 minutes ride to   brightlights ..

[Rhona]

Wow - absolutely superb picture....I too did the elephant ride; amazing creatures and oh so gentle - although if I'm honest, I was a little on the scared side and it took a bit of coaxing for me to climb up....but I have the photos to prove that I did.........we stayed in an awesome hotel with our own private jacuzzi out front - a different world. 

[SandyB]

yes I wanted to  sit onthe neck .. far more  contact .. and I talked to her  ,, told her that I did not agree with the way her handler  treated her at times .. he overheard and told me that he had to be firm , they like nothing more than to run away and raid  banana plantations ..  they the  handlers have to pay the damages ...

[Rhona]

The handlers we had contact with were firm but kind............for I too would not condone cruelty to animals and once had heated words with a worker whilst visiting a zoo many years ago - about the small space that was allocated to a particular animal.........needless to say I haven't set foot in a zoo since.

Back to the earthquake topic - Am I corect in saying there has been a second tremor; measuring in the region of 6 point something???

[Chris Macpherson]

yeah yesterdays news aftershock occurred .......... terrible tragedy...... for all including the poor children that were killed and buried alive...

[Carl Wrbka]

They had a 30min special report on SKY News last Saturday evening on the aftermath of this earthquake. The parents of the kids who were killed at their schools are demanding answers from the government, as to why school buildings in the earthquake area collapsed so easily, whils't buildings on either side of the schools remained standing with only minor damage. It'll be interesting to hear what comes out of this investigation. I smell corruption in the air.