BEIJING — 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.
