(April 21, 2009) According to an article in the April 13th edition of The New York Times, the ability to determine in advance the location, timing or intensity of a seismic event is beyond the abilities of modern science. Though that hasn’t stopped scientists from trying.
Chinese scientist forewarned of deadly Sichuan quake
(March 30, 2009) The popular online media community AlterNet has unearthed another expert to join the scientific battle of opinion over what exactly caused the M7.9 earthquake that killed 80,000 people in China’s Sichuan province last May.
Chinese Official Defends Construction of Schools Felled in Quake
(March 9, 2009) A vice governor of the Chinese province hardest hit by the earthquake last May said Sunday that many schools collapsed then because of the strength of the 7.9 magnitude quake, and not because of shoddy construction.
Was China’s deadly earthquake man-made or an act of God?
(March 4, 2009) Chinese government must learn the lessons of Zipingpu.
FACT SHEET: Triggering Earthquakes
(January 5, 2011) Earthquakes Caused by Dams: ‘Reservoir-Triggered/Induced Seismicity’
Chinese press finally covers story that Zipingpu reservoir may have induced deadly quake
(February 20, 2009) After several weeks of widespread international media coverage of the theory that the Zipingpu dam reservoir played a role in triggering the deadly Sichuan earthquake of May 2008, China’s official Xinhua news agency has finally published an article online discussing the theory.
Major U.S. media report on theory that the deadly Sichuan earthquake was man-made
(February 18, 2009) As speculation has grown over whether the Sichuan earthquake, which killed 80,000 people last May and left more than 5 million people homeless, was triggered by the 315 million tonnes of water held in the Zipingpu dam reservoir, so too has press coverage of that theory. Here, Probe International provides a roundup of what that coverage is saying.
Probe corrects Mother Jones
(February 11, 2009) Probe International has called for an investigation into the role of the Three Gorges dam in the Chinese earthquake. Incorrect reporting had Probe claiming that the Three Gorges dam was responsible for the devastating earthquake
Dam blamed for scale of Chinese earthquake
(February 9, 2009) Pressure from Zipingpu dam could have amplified Sichuan quake that killed 70,000
Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, China
(2008) Large reservoirs can cause seismic events as they fill and as the pressure on local faults increases. Such reservoir-induced seismicity was predicted for the Three Gorges region, which is already seismically active and indeed, there has been an increase in reported seismic activity in the region following construction of the dam and the filling of the reservoir.
China must come clean on Zipingpu
(February 6, 2009) China’s deadly 2008 earthquake was probably not a natural disaster at all, experts say, but one induced by man – specifically by the four year old Zipingpu dam.
Dam may have triggered huge China quake: scientists
(February 5, 2009) A man-made dam may have triggered China’s devastating earthquake last year, some government officials and scientists are claiming, pitting them against others who insist it was a natural disaster.
China Earthquake a Dam-Induced Disaster?
(February 4, 2009) Last year’s devastating Sichuan earthquake, which took at least 69,000 lives, may have been unleashed by the huge Zipingpu Dam. New scientific evidence links the impoundment of the Zipingpu reservoir to the activation of a fault line near the dam site. A thorough scientific assessment is needed before China builds more dams in earthquake-prone areas.
A link between dams and earthquakes?
(February 3, 2009) The earth is big, and so are the tectonic plates—it doesn’t seem possible that anything humans could do to the earth would have an effect on those immense plates. But evidence is mounting that we cause earthquakes.
Telegraph: Chinese earthquake may have been man-made, says scientists
(February 3, 2009) British newspaper Telegraph has joined an evergrowing list of international media outlets promoting the recent theory that last year’s devastating Sichuan earthquake was not an entirely ‘natural’ disaster. That it was potentially caused by the added pressure on the fault line as a result of the Zipingpu dam reservoir being constructed.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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