1976 Tangshan, China

over an area of roughly 6. 5 kilometers (4. 0 mi) by 8 kilometers (5 over an area of roughly 6.5 kilometers (4.0 mi) by 8 kilometers (5.0 mi). Eighty-five percent of the buildings in the city were collapsed into ruins

The Chengli Bridge in Tangshan crumpled during the earthquake.

The cause was when the 25-mile long Tangshan Fault, which runs near the city, ruptured due to tectonic forces caused from the Okhotsk Plate sliding past the Eurasian Plate.

the Amurian Plate sliding past the Eurasian Plate. on July 27, 1976 the Amurian Plate sliding past the Eurasian Plate. on July 27, 1976. Well water in a village outside of Tangshan reportedly rose and fell three times the day before the earthquake

Convergent boundaries and divergent plates

Hundreds of thousands of buildings were destroyed and people were trapped

Struck the city of Tangshan, in China at 3:52 am, killing 242 419 people.

Most of the fatalities resulted from the collapse of unreinforced masonry homes where people were sleeping.

Water was said to have come out of the ground and well water rose and fell 3 times the day before the earthquake.

aftershock that struck 16 hours after the initial temblor measured an identical 7.8. Death toll estimated to be 700,000 but was minimized to 250,000. the reason: so there was no international aid. A further 164,000 people were recorded as being severely injured.

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,195 3425_1953424_1953505,00.html http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/04/forcesofnature/forc es/e_6.html http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1976_07_27_ eib.php http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Earthquake1976ChinaTangshan.html