I received an IM from my dad yesterday afternoon. A great earthquake occurred in the Qinghai Province.
Of course I was far from the danger zone. But even my father who is not in China was still affected.
Just this afternoon, I noticed that Baidu changed the design of their logo (they updated it yesterday 7:21pm) and released a press statement about the Qinghai earthquake.
Here, I attempt to translate their statement in hopes of showing oneness with the Chinese people in this time of grief. If you notice something off with the translation, I would appreciation you leaving a comment so that I could correct it.
From Baidu–
地震是在日出之后不久发生的。4月14日清 晨，青海省玉树县的人们像往常一样，大人准备上班，孩子要去上学，不少人还未苏醒。然而在7点49分，脚下传来的剧烈震撼打碎一切沉寂，这一天注定无法与 往常一样。
几十秒内，玉树县的民房几乎全部倒塌，暮色降临，人们习惯迎接朝阳的瞳孔目睹了一场骇人的灾难。发生在2010年的这场地震，将地处青藏高原东端的 美丽县城顷刻间夷为平地，目前遇难者已逾400人，未来几天，罹难者的人数仍将继续攀升。
心碎而无助的人们在平均海拔4000米、仍处冷季的高原上，在这座昔日平和淳朴今天断壁颓垣的县城奔走呼号。我们曾历经灾难，但我们永远无法习惯目 睹生命湮灭。灾难从不留情，我们注视生命的目光、祈愿平安的意志、分担痛苦的心灵、守望相助的双手也永远不会妥协。
此地距离08年特大地震发生地汶川直线距离约600公里。两年前的八级强震，共造成近十万人的死亡和失踪。玉树县位于非常活跃的巴颜喀拉活动地块， 与汶川同属一个块体。地震发生时，西北大地刚刚苏醒，但很多人仍在睡梦中。
庆幸的是，玉树地区的建筑类型多属于土培房。专家称，这种房屋在倒塌时也许不会造成太多的死亡，但会造成数量惊人的伤者。最新的报道称，所有的救治 场所人满为患，数万伤员找不到地方进行集中治疗。而且，粉碎性的坍塌，不便于救援队快速实施救援。在电视画面中我们可以看到，各地专业的救援人员整装待 发，他们神情自信而放松。他们中的多数，都经过了两年前汶川救援的洗礼，相信他们此次能不辱使命。救援者需要注意的是，玉树地区属于高海拔地区，对于救援 队员和救援设备，都是一种新的考验。
我们仍然会像两年前那样，盯着电视直播，不停刷新网站，关注救援的最新进展。比起两年前，我们的情绪似乎平和了不少。我们尽力保持乐观，希望更多的 生命从废墟中被拯救。在灾难面前，政府和民众都比两年前表现得更为镇定、有序。汶川之难，给我们上了印象深刻的一课。我们惟一需提醒自己的是，希望我们的 镇定，不至于异化为无动于衷，或者某种应激性的疲劳。我们仍可以选择值得信任的渠道，通过各种方式，向灾难中的人们伸出援手。在这个几乎每一天都可以看到 灾难报道的时代，每一个仍能保持内心柔软的人，都应为自己感到庆幸与欣慰。
祈愿灾难中的人们平安。此刻，他们正在零下的低温中、在亲人离散的苦痛中度过震后第一夜；此刻，我们无法安眠，因为那些虽然陌生但曾经绽放笑颜的面 孔，如今沉浸在悲痛和惊惶之中。在这痛苦的时刻，我们所有人都会把注意力投向玉树，投向灾难中的你们。在这片广袤的土地上，我们与你们同在。
Translated–
The earthquake occurred shortly after sunrise. Early morning on the 14th of April, the people in the Yushu County, Qinghai Province were as usual, preparing to go to work and to go to school. Not a few people were still sleeping. However at 7:49, a violent earthquake shattered this silence. This day was forever doomed to be different from the rest of our days.
For 10 seconds, the citizens and the houses of Yushu County collapsed. During dusk, the people who make it a habit to accompany the sun set witnessed a great disaster. This catastrophic event of 2010 caused the beautiful Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to be destroyed with more than 400 casualties. And in the coming days, the numbers will continue to rise.
Living four thousand meters above sea level in this cold plateau, the people are heartbroken and helpless. We know how it is to experience disasters, but we will never get used to seeing life being destroyed. Disasters do not retain emotions. We should pay attention to life now and pray and hope for peace. We share the pain and protect each other without compromise.
Last 2008, a great earthquake happened in Wenchuan which is just 600 meters away. Two years ago, this magnitude-8-earthquake’s total casualties added up to 10,000 including the dead and the unaccounted for. During this earthquake, the Northwestern earth was just starting to wake up, but many people were still asleep.
Fortunately, the houses in Yushu County were built over cultivated soil (?). Experts claim that the housing collapse may not cause too many deaths but an alarming number of the wounded instead. The latest reports say that in places where overcrowding is occurring, tens of thousands could not get proper treatment. Moreover, the people could not be rescued immediately. In the television, we can see that the professional rescue workers are ready to go. They looked confident and relaxed. Most of them have seen Wenchuan 2 years ago. They know that they will not fail this mission. Rescuers just need to note that Yushu is a high-altitude-area. This will present a new challenge to the rescue team.
We still remember how it is like 2 years ago—staring at the television, constantly refreshing the Internet web pages, paying close attention to the rescue operation of the victims. Two years ago, we were very calm. We strived to be optimistic hoping that more lives will be rescued from the ruins. In the face of the disaster, the government and the masses were unperturbed. This disaster in Wenchuan left us all with a deep impression. We only need to remind ourselves that we must be calm and keep our cool. We can reach out to a lot of people in a variety of ways. For the next few days as we uncover more about this catastrophe in the news, may each of us still feel grateful and have a happy heart.
Let’s pray for the safety of the people involved. At the moment, they are living in sub-zero conditions, spending their first night after the quake away from their families. At the moment, we also cannot sleep; because the smiling faces of the people though unfamiliar before are now covered in sadness. In this painful moment, our eyes are all paying attention to Yushu. Because in this vast land that is China, all of us are with you.
