Australian caught up in China earthquake horror

Structure Ceramic An Australian has told of being caught up in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that struck south-western China late yesterday, killing thousands.Les Lothringer, an international business consultant now living in Chengdu, near the epicentre of the earthquake, said he was returning to the Sichuan province capital on Monday afternoon from a trip to the countryside when the quake hit."The bus stopped at a fuel station, about 1.5 hours from Chengdu, an area with little infrastructure and mostly farming," Mr Lothringer said in an email."I was outside the bus and at 2.30pm, the earthquake struck."The entire fuel station roof, a large space framed structure supported on four columns, swayed from side to side. People were running into the open and so did I."The bus driver drove away from under the fuel station roof. I stayed well clear in case of an ignition incident."He said the damage became clear while travelling to the next township."Much construction work under way there but the new concrete block buildings, as with the old, are invariably linked with ceramic cladding and, of course, externally located air-conditioning units, many old with rusting fixtures," Mr Lothringer said."This presents an obvious danger as ceramic cladding easily peels off building and crashes to the ground, just as people are trying to evacuate the buildings.""One of the many new buildings cranes collapsed."He said traffic was "severely hampered" with people congregating in the centre median to avoid being near buildings.