At 3:42 a.m. on July 28, 1976, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the region around Tangshan, Hebei, China. Within minutes, 85 percent of the buildings in Tangshan collapsed or were rendered unusable, all services failed, and most of the highway and railway bridges collapsed or were seriously damaged. The official report claimed 242,769 deaths and 164,851 serious injuries in Tangshan, making it among the deadliest natural disasters in China’s history. 

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