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FACTBOX: Chronology of China's major earthquakes
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China's most devastating earthquake in recorded history hit northern Shaanxi province in 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people. In 1995 China put into force a law to improve emergency response to earthquakes. State media reported at the time that more than 610,000 Chinese had been killed by earthquakes in that century. Earthquakes regularly rattle the vast Tibetan plateau, including Tibet itself, the far west region of Xinjiang and Qinghai province. They are also common in southwest Yunnan province and northern areas. Quakes are relatively rare in central China and along the eastern seaboard but the northwest is frequently hit by tremors. The following is a chronology of some of the biggest earthquakes in recent decades: July 1976: At least 270,500 people die when an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale flattens the northern city of Tangshan. April 1985: Earthquake measuring 6.3 kills 22 in Yunnan. August 1985: Xinjiang hit by earthquake that kills 67 people and injures more than 100. The tremor measures 7.4. November 1988: Earthquake measuring 7.6 devastates remote areas in Yunnan, killing at least 730 people and destroying about 400,000 homes. October 1989: Series of tremors in northern Shanxi and Hebei provinces kill 29 people and leave 60,000 homeless. April 1990: Earthquake measuring 6.9 kills 126 people in northwestern Qinghai province. October 1995: Earthquake in Yunnan kills 50 and injures more than 6,000. The 6.5 tremor leaves 170,000 people homeless. February 1996: Earthquake measuring 7.0 wrecks scenic mountain town of Lijiang in Yunnan, killing at least 304 people and injuring more than 16,000. March 1996: Earthquake measuring 6.9 jolts Xinjiang, killing 26 people, injuring 128. May 1996: Earthquake measuring 6.4 rocks Inner Mongolia, killing 15 people and injuring more than 200. Nearly 400 aftershocks follow. January 1997: An earthquake measuring 6.4 kills up to 50 people and injures more than 40 in Xinjiang. April 1997: A strong earthquake measuring 6.6 strikes Xinjiang, killing nine people and injuring 60. January 1998: At least 47 people are killed and more than 2,000 injured when an earthquake measuring 6.2 rocks Hebei, devastating mud and brick homes in two rural counties. February 24, 2003: At least 94 people are killed and more than 200 injured when a quake measuring 6.8 hits sparsely populated Jiashi county in Xinjiang. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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