14 DAY TRIAL // When a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Chinese province of Wenchuan on May 12, 2008, it devastated a very populous area, that was not at all prepared to deal with such a disaster. Now, eyewitness accounts are helping experts piece together what happened.
Due to the large population density living in the area, many people saw the ground being literally ripped apart by the tremendous forces that rearranged the tectonic plates underneath.
The entire region lies above the Longmenshan thrust fault line, which spreads along the base of the Longmen Mountains in the Sichuan province. The entire chain is being driven upwards by activity in this point of contact.
The massive tremor that hit Wenchuan was produced when this fault line ruptured, releasing energy stored inside for prolonged periods of them. As it did so, it literally split the ground apart, right under the eyes of the general population.
More than 70,000 people died following the catastrophe and subsequent aftershocks, and as many as 18,000 were declared missing and presumed dead. About 374,000 were injured at the same time.
Additionally, more than 4 million people lost their homes and nearly everything they owned. A total of 45.5 million people were affected by the devastation, which was also felt strongly in Beijing, some 1,500 kilometers away. Shanghai was also affected.
Many media outlets have failed to grasp the full scale of this particular quake. Its effects were felt in numerous countries, such as Russia, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
“Unfortunately, it's kind of a truism about the state of our knowledge that we're constantly surprised,” researcher Ken Hudnut says of the fact that authorities were caught off-guard by the tremor.
The expert, who holds an appointment as a geologist at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Pasadena, California, has been studying the event ever since it was produced.
A paper published in the November issue of the scientific journal Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America argues that the last event of comparable magnitude originated in this fault line some 1,000 to 2,000 years ago.
In another study, published in the November/December issue of the journal Seismological Research Letters, researchers publish some of the accounts made by people who witnessed the disaster firsthand, Our Amazing Planet reports.
Visually, the tremor caused an impressive, 240-kilometer long crack on a nearby fault line, as well as a 72-kilometer split in a neighboring fault line. Some people told scientists that the ground ruptured right in front of them, and that they are lucky to be alive.