The date was February 15, 1996. The place was the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (Google Map), situated some 64 km northwest of Xichang City, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. At 2:50 AM, the Chinese Long March 3B rocket launched carrying the Intelsat 708, an American communications satellite. Seconds later, the worst space-related disaster in history occurred sparking a technology transfer controversy. Chinese authorities said 6 people died but video footage tells a different story.
posted by stringbean on Mar 21, 2010 - 26 comments

Chinese Are Left to Ask Why Schools Crumbled. "A staggering number of students died as schools collapsed in the May 12 earthquake, and grieving parents are speaking out about shoddy construction."
posted by homunculus on May 25, 2008 - 24 comments

Until recently, earthquake lights were folklore. It wasn't until the phenomenon was captured in photographs, taken during the Matsushiro earthquake swarm in Japan between 1965 and 1967, that the seismological community acknowledged their occurrence. The precise mechanism is unknown. A stunning example was captured on video thirty minutes prior to the Sichuan earthquake.
posted by Pater Aletheias on May 20, 2008 - 66 comments

Newsfilter: Magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits China.
posted by b1tr0t on May 12, 2008 - 63 comments

Tibetan Buddhist art of Sichuan Province, China.
posted by hama7 on May 8, 2004 - 4 comments