China earthquake

Many of you have e-mailed us, asking if we are near the earthquake that struck yesterday afternoon. About 10,000 people have been killed and many are buried under tons of concrete and steel.

Fortunately, we are in the far southern province of China (Guangdong province) in the city of Guangzhou. I put its approximate location on that smaller map so you could see where we are right now.

The earthquake was in Sichuan province (shaded in yellow in the first map above). The capital city is Chengdu. That area is more in the middle of China.

However, the effects of the quake registered in Beijing (pretty definitively) as well as all the way down to Vietnam. I'm guessing that if we had been in Xi'an - or Beijing - we'd definitely have felt it. Xi'an is about midway between Beijing and Sichuan province. (Although my China geographical skills are still sadly lacking.)

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. We leave tomorrow morning at 5:45 for the airport. We'll be incommunicado by the end of today (Tuesday), as we have to pack everything tonight to be ready first thing tomorrow.

We'd appreciate your continued prayers for the very long flight home, that Jesse Yong would behave well, have plenty of things to keep occupied, and maybe sleep for a while.