Qualla: The Tangshan Earthquake: The Deadliest Quake of the 20th Century https://qualla.com/tangshan-earthquake en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/h/1/tangshan-wk/image-2.jpg Qualla: The Tangshan Earthquake: The Deadliest Quake of the 20th Century https://qualla.com/tangshan-earthquake The Tangshan Earthquake: The Deadliest Quake of the 20th Century: Introduction https://qualla.com/tangshan-earthquake/ Photo credit E2568, CC0. At 3:42 AM on July 28, 1976, the residents of Tangshan, an industrial city of one million people in northeastern China, were asleep when a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck directly beneath them. The city had no warning. In 23 seconds of shaking, 85% of the buildings collapsed. Hospitals, schools, factories, apartment blocks - all came down on the people inside. By the time the shaking stopped, an estimated 242,000 people were dead, making it the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century and one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

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]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/h/1/tangshan-earthquake-wk/wxh1-the-tangshan-earthquake-the-deadliest-quake-of-the-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Tangshan Earthquake: The Deadliest Quake of the 20th Century: The Strike https://qualla.com/tangshan-earthquake/ Photo credit E2568, CC0. The earthquake struck at the worst possible time. Nearly everyone was at home, asleep in beds that would become their coffins. The epicenter was directly beneath the city at a depth of only 12 kilometers - shallow enough to amplify the destruction at the surface. Tangshan had no...

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]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/h/1/tangshan-earthquake-wk/wxh1-the-tangshan-earthquake-the-deadliest-quake-of-the-the-strike.mp3 0:06 2 full The Tangshan Earthquake: The Deadliest Quake of the 20th Century: The Scale https://qualla.com/tangshan-earthquake/ Photo credit Great Brightstar, CC BY-SA 4.0. The official death toll was 242,769, though some estimates place it higher. Over 700,000 more were seriously injured. Ninety-three percent of residential buildings and 78% of industrial buildings were destroyed or severely damaged. Hospitals collapsed, killing patients and medica...

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]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/h/1/tangshan-earthquake-wk/wxh1-the-tangshan-earthquake-the-deadliest-quake-of-the-the-scale.mp3 0:06 3 full The Tangshan Earthquake: The Deadliest Quake of the 20th Century: The Response https://qualla.com/tangshan-earthquake/ Photo credit 梦非132, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Chinese government initially refused international aid, relying on the People's Liberation Army for rescue and relief. Soldiers dug through rubble with their hands. Medical teams performed surgery in the streets. The injured were evacuated by train to hospitals across China. ...

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]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/h/1/tangshan-earthquake-wk/wxh1-the-tangshan-earthquake-the-deadliest-quake-of-the-the-response.mp3 0:06 4 full The Tangshan Earthquake: The Deadliest Quake of the 20th Century: The Aftershocks https://qualla.com/tangshan-earthquake/ Photo credit KangTyngrwey, CC BY 4.0. A magnitude 7.1 aftershock struck the same afternoon, 15 hours after the initial quake. Buildings weakened by the first quake collapsed. Survivors who had escaped were killed by secondary structures falling. The aftershock added to the death toll and compounded the psychological ...

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]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/h/1/tangshan-earthquake-wk/wxh1-the-tangshan-earthquake-the-deadliest-quake-of-the-the-aftershocks.mp3 0:06 5 full The Tangshan Earthquake: The Deadliest Quake of the 20th Century: Tangshan Today https://qualla.com/tangshan-earthquake/ Photo credit E2568, CC0. Tangshan was rebuilt over the following decade, its new buildings constructed to withstand earthquakes. The city now has over 7 million people in its greater metropolitan area and is a major industrial center for coal, steel, and ceramics. An earthquake memorial park stands in th...

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]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/h/1/tangshan-earthquake-wk/wxh1-the-tangshan-earthquake-the-deadliest-quake-of-the-tangshan-today.mp3 0:06 6 full