May 12 in History
2008 – An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people
An earthquake measuring at 8.0 Ms. (7.9 Mw), occurred in the province of Sichuan, China at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on this day in 2008, killing over 69,000 people, injuring over 374,176 and leaving at least 4.8 million people homeless, though the number could be as high as 11 million. Over 18,200 were listed as missing as of July 2008.
The earthquake’s epicentre was located 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital, with a focal depth of 19 km (12 mi), and ruptured the fault for over 240 km (150 mi), with surface displacements of several metres. The earthquake was also felt as far away as both Beijing and Shanghai—1,500 and 1,700 km away, respectively—where office buildings swayed with the tremor, as well as Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam.
Strong aftershocks, some exceeding 6 Ms, continued to hit the area up to several months after the main shock, causing further casualties and damage. The earthquake also caused the largest number of geohazards ever recorded, including about 200,000 landslides and more than 800 quake lakes distributed over an area of 110,000 km2 (42,000 sq mi).
It was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed at least 242,000 people, and the strongest in the country since the 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake, which registered at 8.6 Mw. It is the 18th deadliest earthquake of all time.
-Wikipedia
Photo Caption – The Miaoziping Bridge of Dujiangyan –Wenchuan Expressway that damaged in the earthquake – AlexHe34
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.