Tangshan Earthquake Research Paper

This region in China has a long history as a thriving city prior to the Tangshan Earthquake in 1976. Humans lived and worked in Tangshan as early as 40,000 years ago. It was a village during the Tang dynasty. After this dynasty, it was part of the Ming dynasty. During the Ming dynasty, Tangshan developed in agriculture, oil exportation, and ceramics. In 1889, this region was named Tangshan Town and later, it became known as the City of Tangshan. It is home to many "first" innovations in China's industrial industries. It includes mechanical mining, railroad track gauge, train locomotive, machinate-made cement, and sanitary porcelain. In 1907, a large cement plant opened, followed by a coal production plant in the 1940's.

Just before
This earthquake happened along the 25 mile long, Tangshan fault line. This fault line was not discovered until this earthquake occurred. When the earth shifted it caused the Amirian plate to slide past the Eurasian plate. This region is located at Yan Shan fold fault zone and the Cangdong fault zone. China is located between the Indian and Pacific plates, which is an active earthquake region. The fault is part of the Cangdong fault system which crosses Yin Shan mountain
The aftershock caused additional damage and casualties and limited the efforts of rescue workers. The Chinese government refused any foreign aid so Tangshan was a disaster. "A foreigner passed through Tangshan a year after the earthquake and described the destruction similar to the worst pictures of bombing during World War II." (Source 7)

The earthquake also affected the economy and population in Tangshan. The quake left 160,000 families homeless, 4,000 children orphaned, 242,000 people dead and possibly 700,000 people injured. Approximately, 165,000 of those hurt had major injuries. Eighty percent of the people who were stuck under the rubble were