On the afternoon of May 12, asudden trembling startled officeworkers in high-rise buildings incities of central and west China.As the floors and walls of their buildingsshook, people rushed out into the streets. Asthe shaking passed, relief began to set in thatthe earthquake had been relatively mild, butthousands of miles away the same quake hadalready claimed tens of thousands of lives.Later, as news of the event spread acrossthe country, people would unite in grief anddetermination to save as many people as pos-sible.