50 years ago today on July 28, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Tangshan in Hebei Province. Traditionally, on significant anniversaries of the Tangshan earthquake, the top leader of the Communist Party of China would visit the site to pay respects. However, on the 50th anniversary, Xi Jinping was notably absent, and instead, Premier Li Keqiang attended the commemorative activities.
Reported by the state-run Xinhua News Agency, on the morning of July 28, Premier Li Keqiang, on behalf of Xi Jinping, visited Tangshan City in Hebei Province to offer condolences and lay a wreath at the memorial park on the site of the earthquake. At the same time, Xi Jinping was in Beijing meeting with the visiting President of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini.
According to Reuters, such commemorative events are usually attended by the top leader and President of the Communist Party of China. Media outlets such as Taiwan’s Central News Agency had previously speculated that Xi Jinping would personally attend the 50th anniversary of the Tangshan earthquake commemoration.
For many years, the Communist Party of China has followed a tradition of marking major events or anniversaries on the years ending in 5 or 0. During previous anniversaries of the Tangshan earthquake, the top leadership of the Communist Party would visit the site to lay flowers and pay respects.
On July 28, 2016, marking the 40th anniversary of the Tangshan earthquake, Xi Jinping visited the memorial park and laid a wreath at the commemorative wall. In 2006, the then General Secretary of the Communist Party, Hu Jintao, visited the Tangshan Earthquake Memorial Square. And on the 20th anniversary, Jiang Zemin, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party, was present.
On this day 50 years ago, in the early hours of July 28, 1976, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the industrial city of Tangshan in Hebei Province, shaking the earth fiercely for 23 seconds and reducing over 90% of the man-made structures to rubble.
Official figures from the Communist Party of China indicate that the Tangshan earthquake resulted in approximately 242,000 deaths, over 160,000 people severely injured, and 7,200 families completely wiped out. However, the official death toll of 242,000 was only officially announced by the National Seismological Bureau in November 1979, more than three years after the earthquake.
Nevertheless, there are widespread reports in the community suggesting a death toll of at least 600,000 or even up to 750,000. Dr. Zhang Yuming, a former physician at Henan Medical University and retired cancer researcher from Yale University, claimed that the earthquake should have been categorized as a magnitude 9, resulting in a death toll as high as 750,000.