Abbreviated version of the Wenshan earthquake in Sichuan

At 14:28:04 on May 12, 2008 (Monday), the epicenter was located at the junction of Yingxiu Town and Xuankou Town, Wenchuan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China.

According to data from the China Earthquake Administration, the surface wave magnitude of this earthquake reached 8.0Ms and the moment magnitude reached 8.3Mw (according to the United States Geological Survey, the moment magnitude was 7.9Mw). The severely damaged area exceeded 100,000 square kilometers, the earthquake intensity reached 9 degrees.

The earthquake affected more than half of China and many Asian countries and regions. It was felt as far as Liaoning in the north, Shanghai in the east, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Vietnam in the south, and Pakistan in the west.

Characteristics of earthquakes

1. High intensity, wide spread, and strong destructive power. The 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake was an internal earthquake in mainland my country. It was a shallow earthquake with relatively large destructive force. Except for Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Xinjiang, where no earthquakes were reported, other provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities felt earthquakes of varying degrees.

2. The epicenter is located in an area prone to earthquakes. Since earthquake records began, eight earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above have occurred within 200 kilometers of the epicenter of the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake.

3. The earthquake resistance of buildings in disaster areas is weak. The epicenter of the earthquake, Wenchuan County, has a Qiang population of 29,000, accounting for 26.69% of the county's total population. It is one of the four Qiang counties in my country. The structure of Qiang houses is made of stone walls or rammed earth board walls, which have poor earthquake resistance.

4. There are serious casualties in public places such as schools and hospitals. Since the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake occurred in the afternoon, people in schools, hospitals and other units were concentrated, resulting in serious casualties among students, faculty and staff and medical staff.

5. Earthquake relief disaster is huge. The epicenter of the earthquake, Wenchuan County, is 1,325 meters above sea level and is surrounded by many mountains such as the Chaping Mountains and Qionglai Mountains. The terrain is complex and transportation is inconvenient. Roads and communications were interrupted after the earthquake. There were frequent rain showers in the disaster area at that time, which caused great difficulties for work in the disaster area.