data.sample.2008_Sichuan_earthquake.txt Maven / Gradle / Ivy
2008 Sichuan earthquake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake occurred at 14:28:01.42 CST (06:28:01.42 UTC) on 12 May 2008, with its epicenter in Wenchuan County (Chinese: ???; Pinyin: W?nchuan Xi?n), Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China. It had a magnitude of 7.8 Ms according to the State Seismological Bureau of China and 7.9 Mw according to the United States Geological Survey. The epicenter was 90 kilometres (55 miles) west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, with a depth of 19 kilometres (12 mi). The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, where office buildings swayed with the tremor. The earthquake was also felt in nearby countries, such as Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Official figures (as of May 14) state that 16,665 are confirmed dead and 66,286 injured, Thousands are missing, many of them buried, and eight provinces were affected. These figures are likely to rise sharply as a clearer picture emerges. It was the deadliest and strongest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed approximately 250,000 people.
The epicenter was in Wenchuan County, Ngawa Prefecture, 90 km northwest of Chengdu, with its main tremor so far occurring at 14:28:01.42 CST (06:28:01.42 UTC), on Monday 12 May 2008. Early reports of the earthquake's magnitude ranged from 7.5 to 8.0. Forty-six major aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.4 to 6.0, were recorded within 40 hours of the main tremor.
Office workers in Chengdu reported a "continuous shaking for about two or three minutes", and many people rushed outside.