A look at recent deadly earthquakes in China
A look at recent deadly earthquakes in China
FILE - Mourners light up fire crackers, burn incense and make offerings to those who died in May 12, 2008 earthquake, on the grave sweeping day in Beichuan, Sichuan, China on April 4, 2009. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a local resident of China’s Tibetan Ethnic Group turns the prayer wheel as she passes by debris in the quake-hit Gyegu Town of Yushu County, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, Tuesday, April 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhu Xiang, File)
FILE - A man squats near the collapsed remains of a building destroyed by an earthquake in Lushan county in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, Monday, April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
FILE - Villagers shift through the rubble of destroyed houses as rescuers search for missing persons in the quake-hit town of Longtoushan in Ludian County in southwest China’s Yunnan Province Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
FILE - A woman sits on the remnants of a quake destroyed house in Lalu village of Hetuo township in Minxian in northwest China’s Gansu province Monday July 22, 2013. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, people carry out an injured person evacuated in the aftermath of an earthquake from Mozigou village near Moxi Town of Luding County, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Sept. 8, 2022. (Shen Bohan/Xinhua via AP, File)
FILE - A vehicle is partially covered by a collapsed building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Dahejia village of Jishishan county in northwestern China’s Gansu province Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (Chinatopix via AP, File)
FILE - Mourners light up fire crackers, burn incense and make offerings to those who died in May 12, 2008 earthquake, on the grave sweeping day in Beichuan, Sichuan, China on April 4, 2009. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel, File)
FILE - Mourners light up fire crackers, burn incense and make offerings to those who died in May 12, 2008 earthquake, on the grave sweeping day in Beichuan, Sichuan, China on April 4, 2009. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a local resident of China’s Tibetan Ethnic Group turns the prayer wheel as she passes by debris in the quake-hit Gyegu Town of Yushu County, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, Tuesday, April 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhu Xiang, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a local resident of China’s Tibetan Ethnic Group turns the prayer wheel as she passes by debris in the quake-hit Gyegu Town of Yushu County, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, Tuesday, April 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhu Xiang, File)
FILE - A man squats near the collapsed remains of a building destroyed by an earthquake in Lushan county in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, Monday, April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
FILE - Villagers shift through the rubble of destroyed houses as rescuers search for missing persons in the quake-hit town of Longtoushan in Ludian County in southwest China’s Yunnan Province Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
FILE - Villagers shift through the rubble of destroyed houses as rescuers search for missing persons in the quake-hit town of Longtoushan in Ludian County in southwest China’s Yunnan Province Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
FILE - A woman sits on the remnants of a quake destroyed house in Lalu village of Hetuo township in Minxian in northwest China’s Gansu province Monday July 22, 2013. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, people carry out an injured person evacuated in the aftermath of an earthquake from Mozigou village near Moxi Town of Luding County, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Sept. 8, 2022. (Shen Bohan/Xinhua via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, people carry out an injured person evacuated in the aftermath of an earthquake from Mozigou village near Moxi Town of Luding County, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Sept. 8, 2022. (Shen Bohan/Xinhua via AP, File)
FILE - A vehicle is partially covered by a collapsed building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Dahejia village of Jishishan county in northwestern China’s Gansu province Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (Chinatopix via AP, File)
FILE - A vehicle is partially covered by a collapsed building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Dahejia village of Jishishan county in northwestern China’s Gansu province Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (Chinatopix via AP, File)
BEIJING (AP) — An earthquake that killed more than 120 people in China this week was the country’s deadliest in nearly a decade.
Earthquakes happen most frequently in western China on the Tibetan Plateau or its fringes.
Sichuan province in the southwest has had several large quakes including by far the deadliest one in recent years in 2008, which killed nearly 90,000 people. The collapse of schools and other buildings led to a yearslong effort to rebuild using more quake-resistant materials.
Other deadly earthquakes have struck in Yunnan province to the south of Sichuan and in Qinghai and Gansu provinces.
Here’s a list of major recent earthquakes:
— May 2008: A magnitude 7.9 earthquake leaves nearly 90,000 people dead or missing and presumed dead in Sichuan province.
— April 2010: A magnitude 7.1 earthquake kills 2,698 people in Qinghai province.
— April 2013: A magnitude 7.0 earthquake kills 196 people in Sichuan.
— July 2013: A magnitude 6.6 earthquake kills 95 people in Gansu province.
— Aug. 2014: A magnitude 6.1 earthquake kills 617 people in Yunnan province.
— Sept. 2022: A magnitude 6.8 earthquake kills 93 people in Sichuan.
— Dec. 2023: A magnitude 6.2 earthquake kills at least 126 people in Gansu and Qinghai provinces.