“The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Ms and 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST (06:28 UTC) on Monday, May 12, 2008 in Sichuan province of China, killing an estimated 68,000 people.

It is also known as the Wenchuan earthquake (Chinese: 汶川大地震), after the location of the earthquake's epicenter, Wenchuan County in Sichuan province. The epicenter was 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, with a focal depth of 19 kilometres (12 mi). The earthquake was also felt in nearby countries and as far away as both Beijing and Shanghai – 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) and 1,700 kilometres (1,056 mi) away – where office buildings swayed with the tremor.

Official figures (as of July 21, 2008 12:00 CST) state that 69,197 are confirmed dead, including 68,636 in Sichuan province, and 374,176 injured, with 18,222 listed as missing. The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless, though the number could be as high as 11 million. Approximately 15 million people lived in the affected area. It was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed at least 240,000 people, and the strongest since the 1950 Chayu earthquake in the country, which registered at 8.5 on the Richter magnitude scale. It is the 21st deadliest earthquake of all time”. – Wikipedia

Residents and rescue workers evacuate from the centre of earthquake-hit Beichuan county,Sichuan province, May 17, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A woman cries as she cannot find her 4-year-old daughter and husband on the top of the ruins of a destroyed school in earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 17, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A rescue worker carries a survivor from a collapsed building in the old city district near a mountain at the earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 15, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A covered body is laid in front of the ruins of a destroyed old city district, near a mountain at the earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 16, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A father looking for his child walks past two dead girls who are buried among the ruins of a destroyed primary school in the old city district, near a mountain at the earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 15, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A rescue worker cuts the hair from the body of an elderly woman for identification purposes at the earthquake-hit Hanwang town of Mianzhu county, Sichuan province, May 14, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Relatives cry next to the recovered body of a student near a school at the earthquake-hit Hanwang Town of Mianzhu County, Sichuan province, May 14, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A survivor carrying goods evacuates the area past a huge rock lying on top of a car on a road near a mountain in the centre of earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 16, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A local resident leaves the ruins of the destroyed old city district, near a mountain at the earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 15, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A man cries next to a rescue worker on the roofs of destroyed houses after an earthquake, in Hanwang town in Mianzhu, located around 83 km (50 miles) north of Chengdu, May 13, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Chinese soldiers line up during search and rescue operations inside the earthquake destroyed city of Yingxiu in China's Sichuan province May 26, 2008. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press)

A Chinese earthquake survivor is lifted by Chinese soldiers in the town of Mianzhu in China’s southwest Sichuan province to be taken by ambulance to another city for treatment May 24, 2008. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press)

A Chinese woman is helped by a stranger as she collapses after viewing the site of her home for the first time since the earthquake on May 12 in the town of Hanwang May 25, 2008. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press)

Chinese earthquake survivors walk through the destruction of a shopping street in the town of Hanwang May 25, 2008. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press)

Nine-year-old Xia Xueyin, her face badly bruised during the earthquake, takes photos of her family’s damaged home in Hanwang town of Sichuan province May 22, 2008. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press)

A mother cries as she holds a photo of his daughter who was killed in an earthquake, as she stands in the ruins of the Fuxin No.2 Primary School in Wufu, in China’s southwest Sichuan province May 29, 2008. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press)