TheGreat Tangshan Earthquake, China (1976)

Tangshan was an industrial city with approximately one million inhabitants.

The earthquake occurred on July 27, 1976 at 3:42 am.
Magnitude 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale. It lasted about 16 seconds.
Followed by magnitude 7.1 aftershock 16 hours later

Hazard
It was caused by a slip-strike fault.
A slip-strike fault is where a vertical
fault causes a lateral shift. The main
shock caused a 75- mile rupture under
the surface of the ground running
north-northeast and south-southwest of
the city.

Disaster

Unstable Alluvial soil

Time: 3:42 am. Asleep and unprepared
people
Warning given 15 days before the
earthquake but No action taken by
Tangshan authorities

The whole Tangshan City and surrounding

areas were exposed.

255,000 people lay dead or dying

164,581 people injured

2,600 children orphaned

Over 500,000 people left homeless

93% of residential buildings and 78% of

industrial buildings destroyed

Post-disaster Vulnerability

Surface deformation

Crops destroyed

Health problems arose as a result of

improper treatment of corpses

Coal mines were flooded due to opening

of fractures in bedrock

Dust and debris from the collapsed buildings

filled the air

Survivors faced no electricity, food or water

Pre-disaster Vulnerability
Unreinforced buildings
Low mortar strength in masonry

Exposure

Living beings- People, flora, fauna

Infrastructure
Buildings
Coal mines
Farmlands

Roads, railways and bridges destroyed

Sand boils, slumping of embankments,

river banks and canals

Contaminated water and faulty

systems caused widespread diseases

Economic loss of 10 billion yuan

Many destroyed farmlands no more capable

of producing crops- farmers, people,
economy affected

Lack of food and unemployment- economy

affected, loss of 4.5 billion dollars

Roads and transport blocked thereby

delaying the help from rescue workers.

< Surbhi Modi >

< Disaster: Tangshan Earthquake, China (1976) >

RACHANA SANSAD , INSTITUTE OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING, MUMBAI

SEMESTER 01 , BATCH 2015-17

sewer

Capacity (Tangshan City)

Pre-disaster-

(AFTER THE WARNING WAS GIVEN) - None

Post-disaster

Massive relief and reconstruction program

Survivors became organized, they dug through debris and saved thousands of people
who had got buried

Implementation of communication control to clear the roads stuck in traffic jams

Arrangement of food from nearby provinces

30 water tank vehicles brought by Beijing people

Living arrangements for people

More than 110,000 officers and men from Beijing and Shenyang military area
arrived to rescue people

283 medical teams and nearly 2,000 medical workers were sent from nearby
provinces to treat people

Capacity (by Qianlong county, 70 kms away from Tangshan)

180,000 buildings collapsed in Tangshan earthquake but zero
fatalities

Pre-disaster

(AFTER THE WARNING WAS GIVEN)

The entire population of the county, about 470,000 people, moved outdoors where
they slept, ate, worked and held classes

Those who stayed at home kept their doors and windows open at all times

School students were enrolled in checking well water levels, rodent behavior and
the flight of birds for telltale signs of a pending earthquake

Post-disaster- Same as above (Tangshan City)

< Surbhi Modi >
< Disaster: Tangshan Earthquake, China (1976) >

RACHANA SANSAD , INSTITUTE OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING, MUMBAI

SEMESTER 01 , BATCH 2015-17