China Quake: Catastrophe on the Edge of the Empire
On a good day, it takes 12 hours by bus to get to Yushu from the provincial capital, Xining, which is itself about a 1,000-mile drive from the national capital of Beijing. As you climb south and west across the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, urban sprawl cedes to empty steppe. Just north of Tibet, the road opens into a small town tucked in a river valley. Its main street is lined with vendors selling yak butter and tea; its low, brown hills are lined with rows of brightly colored courtyard homes. Those homes — and the town — now lie in ruin.
At 7:49 a.m. on Wednesday, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook the plateau, cracking a hospital, toppling schools and pulling mud and wood houses to the ground. At least 400 people were killed and 10,000 injured, according to state media reports. That toll will surely rise; many people, including children, remain trapped in the rubble. Footage from the scene shows...