Sichuan Earthquake.

Almost 12,000 people have been reported dead and tens of thousands more are still buried under rubble as a result of yesterday's massive earthquake in China.

Now the death toll has exceed 12,000.

In the WSWS's eyes, foreign countries which have profited immensely from the exploitation of Chinese labor can rest easy knowing the earthquake happened in a less-populated, less-industrialized area of China.

According to their article, China still has a long way to go to make improvements in combating the worst in earthquakes:

The lack of government control over many economic sectors has significantly weakened its ability to coordinate disaster relief. Furthermore, while infrastructure for foreign investors is world class, transport, communications and other services in more backward provinces such as Sichuan is poor.

Sichuan is located at the fringes of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau—a zone particularly prone to earthquakes. It is already clear from the extensive damage, particularly in rural areas, that most buildings were not constructed to withstand tremors. A design code to take earthquakes into account was only instituted after the Tangshan disaster in 1976, and many buildings in Sichuan simply did not meet even its minimal requirements. Building codes are openly flouted by developers determined to maximise profits.

If this is the case, we can expect tens of thousands more deaths.

How does this affect the economy there?

Toyota Motor Corp and other Japanese companies have suspended operations in Sichuan. A Toyota joint venture manufacturing small buses and sports utility vehicles in Chengdu has been shut down too. The venture, Sichuan Faw Toyota Motor, produces 13,000 vehicles a year and has 1,600 employees.

Trading in 66 listed companies based in southwestern China was suspended from Tuesday. In a quick assessment, overseas economists were split on the impact of the natural disaster on China's macro economy.

Merrill Lynch analysts T J Bond and Ting Lu said in a written statement, "We think the earthquake today should have much smaller impact on China's macro economy than the snowstorm in January-February, especially regarding CPI [consumer price index] inflation, industrial production and exports. We thus conclude that the earthquake is unlikely to have significant impact on current macro policies."

Thank God for that. What's a few hundred thousand deaths anyway if the economy isn't hurt badly?