On May 12, 2008, a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck beneath a mountainous region in south-central China, toppling buildings and sending landslides crashing into cities, resulting in nearly 70,000 deaths. The 2008 Sichuan earthquake (also called the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake) became even more infamous for exposing the cheap and inferior construction methods used in schools across the region, which left thousands of children dead and injured. Ten years later, in hard-hit Beichuan County, most survivors have been relocated to new homes, which were built about 19 miles (30 kilometers) away from the ruins that remain in place today—slowly being reclaimed by nature.
10 Years Since the Devastating 2008 Sichuan Earthquake
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This picture taken on April 24, 2018, shows houses destroyed by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in Beichuan, Sichuan province, China. The city of Beichuan has been kept frozen in time since May 12, 2008, when a 7.9-magnitude earthquake killed some 87,000 people across Sichuan province. #
Johannes Eisele / AFP / Getty -
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The memorial site of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake at Xuankou Middle School, photographed on March 30, 2018, in Yingxiu, Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China. The town was rebuilt a decade after it was destroyed by the 2008 earthquake. Now a large source of income for the residents of Yingxiu town is the development of tourism. #
Wang He / Getty -
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The door of the surviving villager Wang Guocheng's dwelling stands among weeds at a minority village, heavily damaged in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, on a mountain in Wenchuan County, Sichuan province, China, on April 5, 2018. #
Jason Lee / Reuters -
The sun sets over a barbican on March 27, 2018, in Wenchuan County Radish village, Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. This is a Qiang mountain village, which has a history of 4,000 years. After the May 12, 2008, earthquake, 226 houses were damaged and 42 people died. #
Wang He / Getty -
Wang Guocheng, 54, from Qiang, looks at a model of Radish village on March 27, 2018, in Wenchuan County Radish village. The earthquake changed the water system, and the stockade was especially short of water. In 2010, the residents moved into their new houses. Now, residents derive income from the development of fruit planting and tourism. #
Wang He / Getty -
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A visitor to the memorial site of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake at Xuankou Middle School on March 30, 2018, in Yingxiu, Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China. #
Wang He / Getty -
Zheng Haiyang, 27, a student who survived the earthquake and whose legs were amputated after he was rescued, mourns in front of a memorial for victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, next to the site of Beichuan Middle School, which was buried by boulders, on April 6, 2018. #
Jason Lee / Reuters -
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A Buddhist person prays in front of the site of Beichuan Middle School, ahead of Qingming Festival or "Tomb Sweeping Day," in the city of Beichuan, Sichuan province, China, on April 4, 2018. #
Jason Lee / Reuters -
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