Massive Earthquake in China

On May 12, 2008, an earthquake that measured magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scale struck China's Sichuan province at 2:28 p.m. Rescue crews had difficultly in reaching remote, mountainous villages due to blocked roads. The government also had to take resources away from finding survivors and recovering bodies to attempt to patch up cracked dams that, if burst, would flood already suffering towns. The death toll stretched into the tens of thousands in the temblor that was felt all the way to Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand.