240,000 Lost to the Earth: Remembering Tangshan's Catastrophe The death toll from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake remains one of history's darkest statistics.
On July 28, 1976, a devastating quake struck northern China's Hebei province, killing an estimated 240,000 people and leaving thousands more homeless.
In the aftermath of the disaster, it became clear that human hubris had played a significant role in the tragedy.