China Earthquake Map
The China earthquake that hit this morning is the worst they have experienced in decades. Read more about it, see new photos, a video and a map China below.1
Faults on land, like the San Andreas Fault near Palmdale, California (top), are similar to those in the ocean, like the Atlantis Transform Fault in the Atlantic Ocean (bottom, three times vertical exaggeration). But in many ways, oceanic faults are easier to study and offer the potential to discover fundamental aspects about earthquakes that are applicable to land.2
The China earthquake struck in the middle of the afternoon when classes and office towers were full, about 60 miles northwest of Chengdu. There were several smaller aftershocks, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.3
In Beichuan county, just east of the epicenter, up to 5,000 people were killed and 80 per cent of buildings collapsed, Xinhua said. Another 10,000 people were injured.4