A couple of quick updates: Zhikhong and Thrangu Dam
Last year, Tibetan Plateau blog reported a doctored Google Earth image, which suspiciously covers the Zhikhong Dam, located approximately 100 km NE of Lhasa. While Google did not respond to my queries, the company has now uploaded a different, untampered image of the dam. See below.
THRANGU DAM In April 14, 2010, a huge earthquake hit Yushu County and caused massive destruction to life and property. The tremors had also damaged a dam, threatening to flood the main city located downstream.
Google Earth has uploaded a April 28, 2010 image of the dam, which shows the reservoir mostly empty.
Check out these images on Google Earth yourself! Notice the coordinates (latitude and longitude) at the bottom of most GE images posted on this blog. Share what you find with us and your friends!
See the last section for ways you can donate to help with the relief work
A nice Tibetan song dedicated to the earthquake victims
Google has added some useful tools to support earthquake disaster relief in Yushu. And for regular real time updates (even better than tweeter), check this link. Here are some informative satellite images from google. Click to make images bigger.
GeoEye GE-1 high resolution satellite imagery of Yushu after the earthquake
USGS Shake Map showing different colors for different intensity levels of tremor
Surface acceleration
Damage intensity
Click on this link to see Kyegu Monastery relief work album. Lots of pictures.
Xinhua reports China is carrying out a geological reconnaissance for the rebuilding of the quake-hit township of Jyekundo, to be turned into "a plateau ecological tourist city."
Tibetan language map the region
Websites specifically dedicated to providing information on the ongoing situation and relief work:
Special website of local consortium of NGO's, now active in Jiegu, Xining and Chengdu.
Plateau Perspectives is one the best sources of updates on the situation on the ground. See this special website.
University of Virginia also has a special website.
This photo of a girl reading her book in front of earthquake ruins is really something. Photo from pourmecoffee.com.
Al Jazeera report on cremations for the dead:
Here are three Google Earth images (Thanks Nima-la!) of the damaged dam near Thrangu (ཁྲ་འགུ་དགོན་ or "Changu" in Chinese media) monastery. The first two images show the town of Yushu (ཡུལ་ཤུལ / ཡུས་ཧྲུའུ) or Jyekundo (སྐྱེ་རྒུ་མདོ) at an altitude of 3,685m and the dam located South, upstream at an altitude of 3,800m. The second is a close image of the dam. This report from The Independent says that "Emergency officials said the dam could burst at any time, putting 100,000 people in danger". This dam is like a time bomb that might cause another tragedy. I urge governments, groups and citizens of China to urge China to use its resources to gradually empty the reservoir, secure the dam and take people living downstream away to safer areas.
The following images are from a Chinese language blog.
For more images from the same source (warning: disturbing images of dead victims), click here
lhatseri tweets: "Tibetan language blogs sites from PRC have been blocked. No posts about the earthquakes."
