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China Remembers Earthquake Victims
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Published: May 20, 2008
BEIJING - Everything stopped but the tears.
For three minutes Monday, bustling China came to a standstill as its more than 1 billion people remembered the more than 34,000 killed a week ago in the worst earthquake to hit the country in three decades.
For jittery survivors, the respite was brief. Later Monday night, a televised government warning of a major aftershock sent thousands of panicked residents of the disaster zone running into the darkened streets of Chengdu and other towns in the region.
They carried pillows, blankets and chairs from homes into the open or slept in cars after a National Seismology Bureau statement was read on television warning there was a "rather great" chance of an aftershock measuring magnitude 6 to 7. Such jolts could cause major damage.
The unprecedented display of mourning began at 2:28 p.m., the moment that the magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck on May 12. Air-raid sirens and horns from cars, ships and trains blared to signal everyone to stand still - from the broad boulevards of Beijing to the shattered streets of Sichuan province.
Traffic froze, with drivers standing beside their cars. Soldiers lined up at attention. People bowed in respect for the dead, with some breaking out in sobs. Rescuers briefly halted work in the disaster zone, where hope of finding more survivors was fading.
Such an observance previously only was held to honor the death of a top Chinese leader.
President Hu Jintao led senior government figures in a solemn ceremony televised nationally. The Olympic torch relay, a potent symbol of national pride in the countdown to the Beijing Games, was suspended.
China's Cabinet said the confirmed death toll from the quake rose to 34,073, and is expected to climb. An additional 5,260 remained buried in Sichuan, the provincial government said. Almost 250,000 are injured.
More than 200 relief workers have been buried in the past three days by mudslides while working to repair roads in Sichuan, state media reported. An official confirmed there had been mudslides causing some deaths but said casualties were still being counted.
For some, there was no solace in Monday's ceremonies.
"I can't feel anything. I have no words," said Hu Yongcui, who did not stop her search for a missing 17-year-old daughter. "I just want to go home. I just want to find my daughter."
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