2. ๏Date: July 28, 1976
๏Magnitude:7.8Mw
๏Depth: 7.5
๏Epicenter: 39.60ยฐN 118.20ยฐE ๏ผTangshan,
Hebei, China๏ผ
๏Areas affected: People's Republic of
China
๏Casualties 242,769 dead (2nd deadliest
earthquake of modern history)
3. PEOPLE WHO DIED WAS ABOUT
240,000 TO 255,000
Until fairly recently, China's political environment has made it
difficult to properly gauge the extent of natural disasters.
Successive governments have placed more importance on
the appearance of harmony rather than accurate information
on damages. The Tangshan Earthquake came at a rather
politically sensitive time during the late stages of theCultural
Revolution, making accurate statistics especially difficult to
find. The Tangshan earthquake killed 242,000 people according
to official figures, though some sources estimate a death toll
up to three times higher. This would make it the deadliest
earthquake in modern times, and the second or third deadliest
in recorded history. It is worth noting that the population of
Tangshan at the time the quake struck was estimated to be
around 1.6 million[10] and that most of Tangshan's city proper
was flattened.
4. Many experts believe the Chinese government has
never released an accurate death toll for the
disaster. The death toll figure of 242,419 came from
the Chinese Seismological Service in 1988,[3] while
some sources have estimated the death toll to be at
650,000.[11] Others range as high as
700,000.[12] The initial estimates of 655,000 dead
and 779,000 injured were released by Hebei
Revolutionary Committee.[13]
