The Hanging Temple (simplified Chinese: 悬空寺; traditional Chinese: 懸空寺; pinyin: Xuánkong Sì) is a temple built into a cliff ( 75m Above the ground )near Mount Heng in the province of Shanxi. The closest city is Datong, 65 kilometers to the northwest. Along with the Yungang Grottoes, the Hanging Temple is one of the main tourist attractions and historical sites in the Datong area. Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is unique not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because it includes Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements.

Related: 悬空寺 (百度百科)
Wikipedia 悬空寺 (Hanging Temple)

Researchers analyzing the May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China's Sichuan province have found that geological stress has significantly increased on three major fault systems in the region. The magnitude 7.9 quake on May 12 has brought several nearby faults closer to failure and could trigger another major earthquake in the region.

"One great earthquake seems to make the next one more likely, not less," said Stein, who has been collaborating with Lin and Toda for nearly two decades. "We tend to think of earthquakes as relieving stress on a fault. That may be true for the one that ruptured, but not for the adjacent faults."

In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, was followed four months later by an M7.1 event in nearby Duzce. The devastating December 2004 Sumatra earthquake (M9.2) and tsunami were followed by an M8.7 quake three months later.

"Because the Tibetan Plateau is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, we believe there is credible evidence for a new major quake in this region," said Lin, a senior scientist in WHOI's Department of Geology and Geophysics. "The research community cannot forecast the timing of earthquakes, and there are still significant uncertainties in our models. But the Turkey and Sumatra events indicate that one major earthquake can indeed promote another.

Researchers see it as a domino-like effect, where the movement of one piece of Earth's crust means that another piece must move up, down, or away. While the stress in the crust gets reduced in some locations, it is transferred to other faults nearby.

With earthquakes, we can roughly forecast the probability of activity over broad ranges of time, magnitude, and location, but we cannot determine the exact value for any of these."

In addition to the broad prediction of earthquake triggering, the researchers have also forecasted the rate and distribution of seismic shocks greater than magnitude 6, a prediction that they plan to test from seismic stations over the next decade.

"Earthquakes do not kill people, buildings do," said Lin, who was a high school student in China when the devastating Tangshan earthquake struck. "There needs to be widespread education in earthquake preparedness, as well as systematic inspection of buildings in these regions of heightened risk. Every new building inspection and evacuation plan could potentially save lives."

"We hope the long-term forecasting allows the Chinese government to make it a priority to mitigate future damage," Toda added. "We recommend that Chinese scientists carefully observe changes in seismicity by installing new seismometers in the region."

"The recent quake reminded us that Earth scientists have a tremendous responsibility to work on issues of societal relevance," said Lin. "We don't want to create panic, but there is legitimate cause for concern and we have a major role to play in educating the public about what we know."

Related:

Doctors Without Borders Providing Aid in Myanmar and China.

其实曹操也未必多想杀人。他原本是非常热爱生命热爱生活，也非常重感情的。

　　曹操虽然残忍，却并不暴虐；冷酷，却并非无情。残忍和冷酷不是他的天性，是他在残酷的政治斗争和军事斗争中被逼出来的。所以，他杀人不眨眼，却并不以杀人为乐；执法不讲情面，却又通情达理。

　　郭嘉英年早逝，曹操悲痛得死去活来。他给朝廷上表，给荀彧写信，同荀攸等人议论郭嘉，每每痛哭流涕，声泪俱下。..

　　甚至对于背叛了自己的朋友，曹操也很看重当年的情谊。陈宫和曹操有过一段不平常的交往，曹操出任兖州牧，就是陈宫的功劳。后来，因诛杀边让一案，陈宫离开曹操，投奔了吕布，而且死心塌地地帮吕布打曹操，被俘以后，也死不肯投降。.. 陈宫昂首就刑，曹操流着眼泪，为他送行。陈宫死后，曹操赡养了他的老母，还为他女儿出了聘，对他们家比当初是朋友时还要好。

最能体现出曹操之重情的，大约还是在他临终之际。 ..

曹操南征北战，戎马一生，享受天伦的时间不多，因此对家人的感情特别珍惜。他在临终前还说过这样的话，他说：我一生所作所为，没有什么可后悔的，也不觉得对不起谁，惟独不知到了九泉之下，如果子修向我要妈妈，我该怎么回答。子修就是曹昂，是曹操的长子。曹昂的生母刘夫人早逝，便由没有生育的正室丁夫人抚育，丁夫人也视为己出。后来曹昂阵亡，丁夫人哭得死去活来，又常常哭着骂着数落曹操：把我儿子杀了，你也不管。曹操一烦，便把她打发回了娘家，因此去世前有这样的说法。

　　其实曹操还是作过努力的。他亲自到丁夫人娘家去接她，丁夫人却坐在织布机前织她的布，动都不动，理都不理。曹操便抚着她的背，很温柔地说：我们一起坐车回家去，好不好呀？丁夫人不理他。曹操走到门外，又回过头来问：跟我回去，行不行呀？丁夫人还是不理他。曹操没有办法，只好和她分手。以曹操脾气之暴躁，为人之凶狠，做到这一步已很不简单。何况曹操还让丁夫人改嫁，不让她守活寡，只是丁夫人不肯，她父母也不敢。当然不敢的。就是敢嫁，也没人敢娶。:)

曹操临终前放心不下的，还有小儿子曹干。曹干三岁时，生母陈姬就去世了，这时也才五岁。于是曹操又专门给曹丕下了一道遗令：“此儿三岁亡母，五岁失父，以累汝也。”

鲁迅先生说：“无情未必真豪杰，怜子如何不丈夫。”曹操怜子，项羽别姬，他们都是性情中人，也都是真豪杰，大丈夫。

杨修之死可以说是咎由自取。但是崔琰的死实在可惜。

据史书记载，崔琰因为牵扯一个蹊跷的文字狱案件被曹操杀死。可以说是曹操随便找个理由杀死崔琰。

(易中天品三国 命案真相)

..

曹操秘密征求立储的意见，崔琰公开作答，叫做“露板”，就是发表公开信。那么你要知道，曹操秘密征求意见这是个规矩啊，这种事情是不能公开征求意见的，你崔琰公开作答是不是坏了规矩，这是第一点。第二点，你为什么要公开作答？人家都秘密回信，你这不是刻意作秀吗？表示你光明正大是不是？表示你没有嫌疑是不是？表示你不会因为曹植的妻子是你的侄女你就结党营私，你想表现这个对不对？曹操不满。第三，就算崔琰没有这个意思，没有作秀的意思，他只是心怀坦荡，他只是大公无私，但是你公开作答不显得曹操的秘密征求意见有点鬼鬼祟祟吗？你这样不就把曹操就比下去了吗？曹操能够容忍吗？何况这个时候大权在握的曹操已经是杀人魔王一个了。

想必曹操不愿让人知道他在立储之事还是摇摆不定，崔琰实在不应该公开的发表意见。

易中天品人录 曹操的几桩谋杀案.

In the United States the name Doctors Without Borders is often used instead.

From PBS Online interview with MSF doctor in Myanmar.

Dr. Asis Min of Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres is working in the aid group's operations base in Bassein in the southwestern Irrawaddy delta region of Myanmar -- the area hit hardest by the cyclone.

As of May 13, the group reported that it had 200 staff members in Myanmar with plans for more to arrive. The teams are conducting medical consultations, distributing food, plastic sheeting and other items, and working to purify water and clean up areas where people have taken temporary shelter. The group also was able to fly in three planes carrying 110 metric tons of relief supplies to Yangon to reinforce the teams on the ground, the organization said.

I'm in the capital of Irrawaddy division, the worst-hit part of Myanmar. Between 95 percent and 100 percent of the houses have been destroyed. One location is in the extreme south western part of Myanmar, where there are a lot of very small islands and small villages on the islands. Many small villages have been completely deserted -- there are probably no survivors.

It's very, very complicated because you can bring people and goods to one part of the island, but inside the island there are many villages where there is no transport. We are carrying sacks of rice, medical kits, and plastic sheets (for building temporary shelters) to these villages on motorcycles, the only form of transport available.

What's needed is a quick mobilization in terms of water supply and other sanitation work. In terms of food and shelter, we're going to scale up our distributions in the coming days. At the beginning our supply was limited, so we had to provide food only for two or three days. As a result, we have to go back again to those areas, while at the same time we are reaching new areas.

It's getting better, but I would not say that there is food for everybody, because we have not reached everybody yet. In one of our first intervention areas, there is no other organization working. There is a small amount of rice provided by the government. But I don't think everybody has food. For the time being we need more emergency response in terms of food distribution, shelter and health care. It's a complete abyss. Places are destroyed completely.

Most of the water sources have been contaminated. We are working on decontaminating the existing wells, but our capacity is very limited because we have not been able to send any materials like big water-bladders with modern decontamination technology. We currently have no means for that type of thing in the field. If we cannot act quickly in water and sanitation, then there is a huge risk of disease outbreaks.

We are procuring supplies locally, but I guess this will not be possible for much longer. We have authorization to land charters from abroad so this will solve a little bit our problem of availability of goods. But that will not solve the problem of reaching quickly the extremely remote places without any infrastructure.

Doctors Without Borders Calls For Immediate and Unobstructed Escalation of Myanmar Relief Operations.

Teams now work in over 20 different locations and are managing to push further into the outlying areas. They treat several hundred patients each day. In addition to wounds, the main health problems are respiratory infections, fever, and diarrhea. So far, 140 tons of relief materials have been flown into the country. More than 275 tons of food have been distributed since the beginning of operations.

“Although MSF is able to provide a certain level of direct assistance, the overall relief effort is clearly inadequate,” said Bruno Jochum, MSF director of operations. “Thousands of people affected by the cyclone are in a critical state and are in urgent need of relief. The aid effort is hampered by government-imposed restrictions on international staff working in the Delta region,” he said. “For example, despite the fact that some MSF water and sanitation specialists have been granted visas to enter Myanmar, they have not been permitted to travel into the disaster area, where their expertise is desperately needed. An effective emergency operation of this magnitude requires coordinators and technical staff experienced in large-scale emergency response.”

MSF calls on the Government of Myanmar to allow for an immediate increase of the relief effort and free and unhindered access of international humanitarian staff to the affected areas.

MSF Teams Working in China’s Quake-hit Areas.

The health-care infrastructure is good in Sichuan, but some hospitals have been damaged, and services have been limited and overwhelmed by wounded. Health-care interventions have been made free of charge in this post-earthquake period. There is a referral system in place for complicated medical cases (usually from towns to cities). Surgical equipment and capacity are needed, especially for orthopedic care and anesthesia.

The results from the initial assessment indicate urgent needs for shelters, drinking water, medical and sanitation supplies. Most pharmacies in the area were destroyed by the quake, and people are facing a dire shortage of medicines. Therefore, MSF is planning to send medicine and medical supplies to Chengdu.

“In the assessed areas, a lot of houses have been destroyed and many people have lost their basic living conditions,” says Philip Tavernier, the MSF Head of Mission in China. “We will therefore send blankets, plastic sheeting, and hygiene kits (soap, basin, towel, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.) from Hong Kong to the affected area.

MSF will donate surgical material, perfusions, dressing material, and additional drugs. Material to carry out dialysis will also be donated in order to treat the people suffering from the so-called crush syndrome.

In the next two days about 25 specialists (nephrologists, surgeons, doctors, nurses, psychologists, logisticians, and water-and-sanitation experts) should arrive in Sichuan, along with additional relief material.

Others:

AmeriCares.

China launches 3 bilingual websites for quake information.

The three sites were established by the Xinhua News Agency, the People's Daily and the China Central Television Station, respectively.

http://www.chinaview.cn/08quake/

www.xhwenchuan.cn

www.512gov.cn

www.wenchuan.cn

Scientists scanning the deep interior of Earth have found evidence of a vast water reservoir beneath eastern Asia that is at least the volume of the Arctic Ocean. (view image)

The discovery marks the first time such a large body of water has found in the planet’s deep mantle.

The finding, made by Michael Wysession, a seismologist at Washington University in St. Louis, and his former graduate student Jesse Lawrence, now at the University of California, San Diego, will be detailed in a forthcoming monograph to be published by the American Geophysical Union.

The pair analyzed more than 600,000 seismograms—records of waves generated by earthquakes traveling through the Earth—collected from instruments scattered around the planet.

They noticed a region beneath Asia where seismic waves appeared to dampen, or “attenuate,” and also slow down slightly. “Water slows the speed of waves a little,” Wysession explained. “Lots of damping and a little slowing match the predictions for water very well.”

Although they appear solid, the composition of some ocean floor rocks is up to 15 percent water. “The water molecules are actually stuck in the mineral structure of the rock,” Wysession explained. “As you heat this up, it eventually dehydrates.

The researchers estimate that up to 0.1 percent of the rock sinking down into the Earth’s mantle in that part of the world is water, which works out to about an Arctic Ocean’s worth of water.

Wysession has dubbed the new underground feature the “Beijing anomaly,” because seismic wave attenuation was found to be highest beneath the Chinese capital city. “China is under greater seismic risk than just about any country in the world, so they are very interested in seismology.”

Water covers 70 percent of Earth’s surface and one of its many functions is to act like a lubricant for the movement of continental plates.