2008 Sichuan earthquake

2008 Sichuan earthquake
汶川大地震
A collapsed structure being bulldozed, with an exposed mountain face in the background
A collapsed building in Wenchuan County
2008 Sichuan earthquake is located in Sichuan
2008 Sichuan earthquake
Chengdu
Chengdu
Location of epicenter in the Sichuan province
UTC time2008-05-12 06:28:01
ISC event13228121
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local dateMay 12, 2008 (2008-05-12)
Local time14:28:01 CST
Duration>2 minutes
Magnitude7.9–8.3 Mw
8.0 Ms
Depth19 km (12 mi)
Epicenter31°01′16″N 103°22′01″E / 31.021°N 103.367°E / 31.021; 103.367 (Sichuan earthquake)
FaultYingxiu-Beichuan fault
TypeThrust fault
Areas affectedSichuan
Total damage$150 billion (2008 USD)
Max. intensityCSIS XI

MMI XI (Extreme)
Aftershocks149 to 284 major, over 42,719 total
Casualties87,587 dead, 374,643 injured, 18,392 missing
Citations[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
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Related articles
The USGS provided a map of Asia in May 2008, which showed a total of 122 earthquakes occurring on the continent. The large red square near the center of the map depicts the 7.9 magnitude Chengdu quake in the Sichuan province.
Map showing the location of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and all the aftershocks following it through May 28, 2008
A USGS map shows that dozens of aftershocks occurred in a small region following the quake.

An earthquake occurred in the province of Sichuan, China at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on May 12, 2008. Measuring at 8.0 Ms[5][14][15] (7.9–8.3 Mw),[1][6] the earthquake's epicenter was located 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital, with a focal depth of 19 km (12 mi).[6] The earthquake ruptured the fault for over 240 km (150 mi), with surface displacements of several meters.[16] The earthquake was also felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai—1,500 and 1,700 km (930 and 1,060 mi) away, respectively—where office buildings swayed with the tremor, as well as Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam.[17] Strong aftershocks, some exceeding 6 Ms, continued to hit the area up to several months after the main shock, causing further casualties and damage. The earthquake also caused the largest number of geohazards ever recorded, including about 200,000 landslides and more than 800 quake lakes distributed over an area of 110,000 km2 (42,000 sq mi).[16][18][19][20][21]

Over 69,000 people lost their lives in the quake, including 68,636 in Sichuan province. 374,176 were reported injured, with 18,222 listed as missing as of July 2008.[13] The geohazards triggered by the earthquake are thought to be responsible for at least one third of the death toll.[22] The earthquake left at least 4.8 million people homeless,[23] though the number could be as high as 11 million.[24] Approximately 15 million people lived in the affected area. It was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed at least 242,000 people, and the strongest in the country since the 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake, which registered at 8.6 Mw.[25] It is the 18th deadliest earthquake of all time. On November 6, 2008, the central government announced that it would spend 1 trillion RMB (about US$146.5 billion) over the next three years to rebuild areas ravaged by the earthquake,[26] as part of the Chinese economic stimulus program.

  1. ^ a b "2008年5月12 日汶川特大地震震源特性分析报告" (PDF). China Earthquake Administration. May 27, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference CEA intensity was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Watts, Jonathan (August 14, 2008). "Sichuan quake: China's earthquake reconstruction to cost $150bn". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 8, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference MSNBC2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b "Magnitude of SW China earthquake revised to 8.0". Xinhua News Agency. May 18, 2008. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c "Magnitude 7.9 – Eastern Sichuan, China". United States Geological Survey. May 12, 2008. Archived from the original on September 11, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference USGSPAGER was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference scea_total was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Armand Vervaeck and Dr. James Daniell (October 5, 2013). "The May 12, 2008 deadly Sichuan Earthquake – A recap – 3 years later". SOS Earthquakes. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  10. ^ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016.
  11. ^ "Magnitude 7.9 – EASTERN SICHUAN, CHINA". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on January 9, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  12. ^ Jacobs, Andrew; Wong, Edward; Yuanxi, Huang (May 7, 2009). "China Reports Student Toll for Quake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 6, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2009. Large earthquakes are common in fold and thrust belts; a recent example is the great Wench-uan earthquake that hit Sichuan, China, on May 12, 2008, killing more than 80,000 people.
  13. ^ a b 伤亡汇总_四川汶川强烈地震_新闻中心_新浪网 [Casualties of the Wenchuan Earthquake] (in Chinese). Sina.com. June 8, 2008. Archived from the original on May 19, 2008. Retrieved July 6, 2008., and 汶川地震已造成69196人遇难 18379人失踪_新闻中心_新浪网 [Wenchuan Earthquake has already caused 69,196 fatalities and 18,379 missing] (in Chinese). Sina.com. July 6, 2008. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  14. ^ 汶川地震震级修订为Ms8.0 [Magnitude of the Wenchuan Earthquake revised to Ms8.0 ()] (in Chinese). CEA. May 18, 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  15. ^ 中国地震信息网关于汶川地震震级修订的专访 [Special Interview about the Revision of Magnitude of the Wenchuan Earthquake] (in Chinese). CEA. May 20, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2008. [permanent dead link]
  16. ^ a b Fan, Xuanmei; Hsein Juang, C; Wasowski, J; Huang, Runqiu; Xu, Qiang; Scaringi, Gianvito; Westen, C.J.; Havenith, Hans-Balder (May 5, 2018). "What we have learned from the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake and its aftermath: A decade of research and challenges" (PDF). Engineering Geology. 241: 25–32. Bibcode:2018EngGe.241...25F. doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2018.05.004. S2CID 134786927. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 15, 2024. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  17. ^ "'Hundreds buried' by China quake". BBC. May 12, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
  18. ^ Xu, Chong; Xu, Xiwei; Yao, Xin; Dai, Fuchu (May 3, 2013). "Three (nearly) complete inventories of landslides triggered by the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan Mw 7.9 earthquake of China and their spatial distribution statistical analysis". Landslides. 11 (3): 441–461. doi:10.1007/s10346-013-0404-6. ISSN 1612-510X.
  19. ^ Fan, Xuanmei; Huang, Runqiu (May 1, 2013). "The landslide story". Nature Geoscience. 6 (5): 325. Bibcode:2013NatGe...6..325H. doi:10.1038/ngeo1806.
  20. ^ Fan, Xuanmei (April 6, 2017). "Characteristics and classification of landslide dams associated with the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake" (PDF). Geoenvironmental Disasters. 4 (1): 12. Bibcode:2017GeoDi...4...12F. doi:10.1186/s40677-017-0079-8.
  21. ^ Dai, Keren; Li, Zhenhong; Tomás, Roberto; Liu, Guoxiang; Yu, Bing; Wang, Xiaowen; Cheng, Haiqin; Chen, Jiajun; Stockamp, Julia (December 2016). "Monitoring activity at the Daguangbao mega-landslide (China) using Sentinel-1 TOPS time series interferometry". Remote Sensing of Environment. 186: 501–513. Bibcode:2016RSEnv.186..501D. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2016.09.009. hdl:10045/58331. ISSN 0034-4257.
  22. ^ Wang, Gonghui; Huang, Runqiu; Lourenço, Sérgio D.N.; Kamai, Toshitaka (November 19, 2014). "A large landslide triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan (M8.0) earthquake in Donghekou area: Phenomena and mechanisms". Engineering Geology. 182: 148–157. Bibcode:2014EngGe.182..148W. doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2014.07.013. hdl:2433/192897. ISSN 0013-7952. S2CID 129234336.
  23. ^ "More than 4.8 million homeless in Sichuan quake: official". ReliefWeb. Agence France-Presse. May 16, 2008. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  24. ^ Hooker, Jake (May 26, 2008). "Toll Rises in China Quake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
  25. ^ 20世纪中国的十个大地震 [10 Greatest Earthquakes in China in 20th Century]. Ningxia Daily (in Chinese). May 15, 2008. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  26. ^ "FACTBOX-China's recent measures to spur growth". News.alibaba.com. November 6, 2008. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2009.