Sichuan’s earthquake, six months later
The Boston Globe Big Picture project highlights the devastation and slow progress being made in recovering from the magnitude 8.0 earthquake that stuck Sichuan May 12, 2008; below are three exemplary photographs.
A quake survivor stands amid the rubble in Hanwang on May 25, 2008 in southwest China’s quake-stricken Sichuan province.
A woman carries vegetables into her collapsed house, caused by last week’s earthquake, in the village of Si Wen Jai in Sichuan province, May 23, 2008.
Six months ago, China suffered its worst earthquake in a generation. The magnitude 8.0 Sichuan Earthquake erased many mountain towns and villages from the face of the map, with destruction radiating outward leaving millions homeless, over 300,000 injured, nearly 70,000 dead, and over 18,000 people still listed as missing. Now, as winter approaches, reconstruction is well under way, with priority placed on building houses for survivors still living in temporary tents. China’s government has pledged nearly $150 billion over three years toward the reconstruction effort – including new schools which will be built to the highest standards, after government officials admitted some blame for the shodddy construction of hundreds of schools that collapsed in last May’s quake, killing up to 10,000 children.
Tourists walk near a monument to the massive Wenchuan Earthquake at the Donghekou Earthquake Relics Park on November 11, 2008 in Qingchuan County of Sichuan Province, China.
