2008 Sichuan earthquake

a girl was found in these ruins 102&nbsp;hours (4 days, 6&nbsp;hours) after the earthquake.

## Internet help 
The Internet has been used for passing information to help rescue and recovery in China. For example, the official Xinhua set up an online rescue request center in order to find the problems in disaster recovery. When rescue helicopters had trouble landing near the epicenter in Wenchuan, a student proposed a new landing spot online. Volunteers have also set up several websites to help store contact information for victims.

## National mourning 
, Beijing.]]
The State Council declared 3 days of national mourning (sadness) for the quake victims starting on May 19, 2008. The Chinese National Flag was raised to half-mast. It is the first time China had national mourning days for something other than the death of a state leader. At 14:28 CST on May 19, 2008, one week after the earthquake, the Chinese public held a moment of silence. People stood silent for 3&nbsp;minutes. Air defense, police and fire sirens, and the horns of vehicles, vessels and trains sounded. Cars on Beijing's roads stopped. After the silence, in Tiananmen Square, crowds began calling out "Long Live China".

The Ningbo Organizing Committee of Beijing Olympic torch relay stopped the relay for 3 days.

Chinese websites changed their front pages to black and white. Sina.com and Sohu, changed their homepage to news items only, and removed all advertisements. Chinese video sharing websites, youku and Tudou, had a black background and only showed videos about the earthquake. Other entertainment websites, including gaming sites, were blacked out. Other websites had links to earthquake donations.

Chinese TV stations made their logo in gray. They showed non-stop earthquake footage from CCTV-1. Even pay television channels, such as Channel V China, also showed earthquake footage. Some TV stations stopped showing commercials.
On May 18, CCTV-1 had a special 4&nbsp;hour TV show called *The Giving of Love* (爱的奉献). Many famous people from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan were on the show. People watching gave about 1.5 billion Chinese Yuan ($US 208 million) for the victims. The entertainers sang "Tomorrow Will be Better", followed by Faye Wong singing "Wishing We Last Forever".

## References 
## Other websites 
### News records 
* BBC's Chinese Earthquake Main Page
** China Earthquake Toll tops 40,000
** Tourist Trail of Sichuan in Ruins
** Town Mourns as Search Continues
** BBC - Map of the Affected Region
** The Quake hits the Web
* CNN - Chinese Earthquake Portal
** Chinese Olympic Torch Relay Delayed 
** Unity and Patriotism Sweeps China
** Stadium becomes Tent City after Chinese Earthquake
* New York Times Topic - Sichuan Earthquake
** Rescue Ends One Ordeal for Young Chinese Pupils
** Global Monitor Finds no Radioactive Leaks in Quake Zone
** Eight Earthquake Pandas Going to Beijing
** Two Detained for Spreading Quake Rumor in China
* Xinhua News Agency - Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China
** Government allocates 70 billion yuan for reconstruction
** Rescuers helped by 680,000 volunteers
** Quake Relief Still at Critical Point

### Online maps 
* BBC - Map of the Affected Region
* CNN - Map of the Affected Region
* New York Times - Map of the Affected Region
* Relief Web - Map of the Affected Region
* USGS - Map of the Affected Region 

### Media 
* Sichuan Earthquake Pictures Archive 
* Life and Death, Love and Pain: Snapshots of Sichuan Earthquake 
* **BBC**
** Compilation of BBC Videos Related to the Earthquake
** BBC NEWS Video, Quake hits western China
* **CNN**
** CNN - Chinese Earthquake Entire Video Archive
* **Xinhua News Agency**
** Leaders Inspect Quake Relief Work
** Rescuers Comb Quake-Hit Areas

### Scientific and educational sites 
* Identification of Earthquake Faults In Sichuan
* USGS Earthquake Hazards Program: An Informational Page about Sichuan quake 
* MIT Report: Earthquake near Wenchuan, West Sichuan, China 
* Caltech Report: The Science Behind China's Sichuan Earthquake 
* China Lacks Earthquake Early-Warning System
* Lake Formation in the Aftermath of Magnitude 7.9 Earthquake (images included)