Tangshan Earthquake 1976 |
Tangshan
The Industrial city of Tangshan is located 90 miles southeast of China. Unfortunately, Tangshan's tectonic plate activity isn't very active, so buildings in the area were designed to the building code to withstand up to maximum VI(6) on the Mercali Scale. This proved to be fatal as buildings came crashing down as the earthquake hit, killing thousands.
Tangshan region is located at the junction of the Yan Shan fold-fault zone and the Cangdong fault zone. Seismic activity in China is relatively high, with many strong earthquakes recorded over the century. However, one as large as the Tangshan earthquake was incredibly unexpected. |