Magnitude 7.9 Earthquake Strikes China’s Sichuan Province

(15/05/08)

• The deadliest earthquake in China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. • 80 percent of the buildings in Beichuan County of Sichuan Province collapsed. • More than 10,000 injuries. • Current estimate of dead at 12,000, but that number is expected to rise • Epicenter was located 100 km (60 miles) from Chengdu, the provincial capital, which is on edge of the Tibetan foothills and home to about 10 million people. • This earthquake occurred on a well known fault zone, which has generated destructive earthquakes in the past (e.g., on 25 August 1933).    Click here to download a PowerPoint Presentation with more details on this Event