Tangshan earthquake. Tangshan is a largely industrial city in northeastern Hebei province and suffered an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 (7.5 according to official reports) at 3:42 am on July 28, 1976.
Within 23 seconds, Tangshan, a leading industrial and mining city, was razed to the ground. As a result of the earthquake, most of the town had to be rebuilt. The Great Tangshan earthquake is believed to be the largest earthquake of the 20th century by death toll (250,000 – 650,000). [Wikipedia]
Today the city is the fourth most polluted city in China. The earthquake was depicted in the 2010 movie Aftershock.
Medical personnel. The Chinese government refused to accept international aid from the United Nations, and insisted on self-reliance.
The high loss of life can be attributed to the time it struck and how suddenly it struck, as well as to the quality and nature of building construction in China.
The earthquake devastated the city over an area of roughly 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) by 8 kilometres (5.0 mi).
Many of the people who survived the initial earthquake were trapped under collapsed buildings.
Rescue workers successfully rescued a man.
Ruins after the earthquake.
Shanghai sent 56 medical teams to Tangshan, in addition to the People’s Liberation Army who were assisting while also trying to fix their tarnished image of Red Guard suppressors.
Doctors, nurses and Navy rushed to the scene to rescue the survivors and the injured.
Survivors were rescued and transferred to safe places
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers came to the rescue.
Distorted railway lines after the earthquake
Cracks on the ground.
A bridge damaged by the quake.
Tangshan, August 4, 1976. Hua Guofeng, Mao’s chosen successor, along with Vice-Premier Chen Yonggui, made a personal visit to Tangshan to survey the damage and was photographed in the tasks of cleaning up and comforting the survivors. Hua showed concern, solidifying his status as China’s leader.
The earthquake came in one of the most dramatic years in the history of the People’s Republic.
The earthquake was preceded by the death of popular premier Zhou Enlai in earlier months and followed by the death of Mao Zedong in September. Jiang Qing, the forth wife of Mao Zedong, major political figure during the Cultural Revolution and member of the radical political alliance known as “Gang of Four”, was widely quoted as saying “There were merely several hundred thousand deaths. So what? Denouncing Deng Xiaoping concerns 800 million people.”
Relatives and friends mourn the victims.
After the quake, many people became disabled.
The quake was one of the worst in recorded history, killing half a million people.
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CHINA-UNDERGROUND. Matteo Damiani is an Italian sinologist, photographer, author and motion designer. Matteo lived and worked for ten years in China. Founder of CinaOggi.it and China-underground.com.
