From Beijing Review:
Every time he passes the spot where his younger sister is buried, Tangshan resident Qin Boheng, 39, feels deep sorrow. Thirty years ago, his sister died in the devastating Tangshan earthquake that claimed 240,000 lives, almost a quarter of the city’s population at the time.
Qin’s memories of the disaster are of corpses and the putrid stench in the air. “Stories about that earthquake are too heavy to talk about,” he said. “Every survivor has a heart-breaking memory.”
On July 28, 1976, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Tangshan in north China’s Hebei Province. In about 15 seconds, the city known as a cradle of modern industry in China was almost entirely razed. [Full Text]
Also in the issue:
Survivors’ Tales: Life is a mixture of hardship and blessing for those who survived one of the deadliest earthquakes of modern times”
Searching for Clues: Scientists are striving to overcome the difficulties in earthquake prediction
The most successful earthquake prediction case in China was over 30 years ago, one year before the disastrous Tangshan earthquake jolted the country. On February 4, 1975, Haicheng City and surrounding areas in northeastern Liaoning Province were hit by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake, affecting 8 million people and an area of over 9,000 square km.
See also People’s Daily Online’s “China to commemorate 30th anniversary of Tangshan earthquake”
