The Great Sichuan Earthquake of 2008

This photo was taken in the town of Qushan following 
the quake. The area was almost completely destroyed
by debris flow. (Credit: David Wald, USGS. Public domain.)

        Sichuan is a large province in southwestern China and is the fourth most populated province in the country with its population of over 81 million people. Its capital city,  Chengdu, is located in the central part of the province on the Min River. On May 12, the province of Sichuan was struck by an immense 7.9 magnitude earthquake, the effects of which were catastrophic. The quake began at 2:28 P.M. and lasted around two minutes. Over 87,000 people were killed and another 370,000 were left injured from the earthquake and its aftermath. The quake cost China and its people an estimated $86 billion in damages and left 5,000,000 homeless, making this earthquake one of the most devastating natural disasters in modern China's history.                    

        The earthquake was caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. This tectonic collision has been slowly playing out for over tens of millions of years and has created immense strain and deformation in the region between the two plates along the Longmenshan thrust fault. It is this strain that caused the earthquake that devastated Sichuan. The epicenter of the quake was located just   

This map displays the levels of perceived shaking felt by
Sichuan province during the quake ( Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)  

over 50 miles northwest of the capital city of  Dujiangyan. The map below displays the  perceived shaking of the quake as it grows in  intensity from the epicenter. You can see that  the city of Dujiangyan is almost directly atop  the epicenter and as a result it experienced  some of the most intense shaking. Naturally,  this was one of the areas that was severely  damaged by the quake. Hundreds of dams  were also damaged in the areas that  experienced strong to severe shaking, two of  which were major dams. At least 200 relief  workers were killed from mudslides while  attempting to channel water out of the dams  to prevent major flooding. 

This is a photo taken of Dongqi Middle School following its
 collapse after the quake.  (Credits: Shiho Fukada for The New York Times)

                         

        Perhaps the most heart-wrenching and controversial losses were those of the estimated 5,000 students who died in the hundreds of schools that collapsed from the quake. At first, these losses were claimed to have been a result from the sheer magnitude of the quake by some Chinese authorities. But, due to mass protests by parents of the deceased children and other concerned Chinese citizens the issue of these schools collapsing were finally addressed by Ma Zongjin, who served as chairman of the official committee tasked with assessing damages from the quake. Ma stated that many of the schools collapsed at such a disproportionate rate compared to other buildings in the same areas as a result of poor construction quality and poor construction materials.  

        Much of this devastation could have been mitigated if proper measures had been in place to ensure that these schools were built with better quality resources and safer building techniques. This earthquake and the devastation it brought upon the people of Sichuan should serve as a testament of the need for buildings, especially schools and hospitals, to be constructed with ample support to protect those inside in the event of an earthquake. As many researchers who were at these sites have said, if the buildings were even strong enough to withstand the quake for just moments longer it could have given the students and faculty enough time to evacuate, saving thousands of precious lives.

This news segment first aired in 2008 following the 

quake. The short clip shows American earthquake 

engineers examine the rubble of a school that was

destroyed by the quake.

  Sources

Hu, C. Y. (Dec. 4, 2017). Sichuan. Encyclopædia Britannica.

    https://www.britannica.com/place/Sichuan

                    Calais, E., L. Dong, M. Wang, Z. Shen, and M. Vergnolle, Continental 

                                deformation in Asia from a combined GPS solution, Geophysical 

                                Research Letters, 33, 2006.

                    Rafferty J. P. (May 28, 2020) Sichuan Earthquake of 2008. Encyclopædia

   Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Sichuan-earthquake-of-2008

                    Wald, D. (May 12, 2008) Damage from 2008 Great Sichuan Earthquake in China.                                             USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/damage-2008-great-sichuan-                                                 earthquake-china

                    Wong, E. (Sep. 4, 2008) China Admits Building Flaws in Quake. The New York                                                      Times https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/world/asia/05china.html