The Earthquake That Killed 240,000

On 28 July 1976 Tangshan prefecture[1] in North China was hit by an M 7.8 earthquake,[2] which also severely affected nearby Tianjin City. The earthquake began on 28 July at 03:42:53 AM while most of the people in the region were asleep.[3] People who were awake saw thousands of electric flashes in the eastern sky, like a red sun rising, and then heard a loud roar like thunder that lasted for some 30 seconds,[4] then the earthquake hit. A relatively shallow epicenter (only 11 km underground) made the earthquake a category XI event – the second strongest on the Chinese scale. Tangshan suffered category XI (extreme) damages and different regions of Tianjin suffered category VI-IX damages. Several aftershocks also rocked the region. At 6:45 PM, an M 7.1 aftershock practically levelled Ninghe County in greater Tianjin. Hundreds of smaller aftershock also occurred.[5] This made emergency rescue efforts hazardous and added to casualties and damage.