When China was communist it was because of communism. Soviet era buildings are crap and birdges must undertake complete renovations. No private apartement or other high rise building company would have dared build how they built under the Soviet Union, and I'd bet in the Chinese soviet union it was the same.

The big difference with post-communist China and post communist Russia and Eastern Europe is that China still had to race against their out-of-control demographic growth (+300 millions in one decade) and be under pressure to build new apartments, schools,  hydroelectric stations and other things as fast and as cheap as possible.
They used this mentality and know-how of do-it-fast-and-cheap in their exportation industry as getting foreign devises was also to some extent an urgent priority in the newly open market.

Japan suffers from earthquakes of similar magnitudes, yet their death tolls amount in the hundreds in the worse case. That's because as their population have been stable and slightly decreasing they could afford to improve existing installation, focus on high quake-proof building norms and pull down the less safe premises.
The Japan system is not better, but the circumstances are totaly different.

On other threads someone argued that raising 1.3 billion poeple was an achievement. I gave this very exampl as to why it was not true.

UPDATE:

source

You.....uh.....sure convinced me.....*****!!!

as far as the donations go, I will be donating through the Red Cross as always.  China is going to learn a valuable lesson here about accepting aid from the world during this event:

1. Very rarely is help for free-something will be asked in return some time some where
2. The countries that provide aid through human capital (Japan and others) will be conducting methods of information gathering outside the "humanitarian" scope.

This is the reason why the US refused the aid of human capital from Cuba, Greece, and others.

Its a shame, but the world still operates through the prism of realism.  Nation states ALWAYS act in their own interst.

Of course -- when the rubber hits the road, it's the Americans that come running.  Whether it's the tsunami, the Burma cyclone, or the Chinese earthquake, or whatever third-world destitute country that gets hit by natural disaster, without fail, it's the Americans that have boots on the ground.


You can always tell when people have nothing of value to say - the comparisons to Nazi's and Hitler come out.  Although I absolutely no clue what you are trying to say, if you hint that I am "hitler-like" because I refuse to contribute through Chinese bureaucracies, then that's fine.  Like I've said all along, if you would bother to read and understand, is that I think it's great for people to make donations to the victims.  However, NO ONE should contribute through the dictatorship's bureaucracies.  If you want to make a donation, do so through your local, brick and mortar Red Cross office.

Do NOT under any circumstance wire money to China.  It's likely a scam in the first place, and even if it's not a scam, why would you want to purchase Mrs. Hu another jade necklace.  I think she has enough expensive jewelry.  There is absolutely NO assurance that your money will reach the victims.  Much better to go through local agencies.

Augustusq, perhaps if you actually had a free and open government, then I would feel more confident in sending donations there.  Why don't you go protest for a democratic government?  Oh wait, you can't.  You're Chinese - that means you live in political oppression under a dictator.  Have fun with that.

Maybe those building engineers are about as smart as you ...

Remeber the Los Angeles earthquake in 1994 - that one was a 6.4 ? 

Do you know the difference between 8.0 and 6.4 ?

That's 40 time stronger mate ...

 Parts of this conversation have been split to
EU purchase of US wepons