When it comes to earthquakes, many people first think of the Tangshan earthquake in 1976 and the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, and many people will feel that the disasters caused by these two earthquakes are particularly serious, especially the Tangshan earthquake. But what many people don't know is that there is another super earthquake in the mainland's historical records, that is, the Huaxian earthquake that occurred in the 34th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, that is, in 1556.
According to historical records, the earthquake affected 97 continents in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan provinces. The four counties of Weinan, Huaxian, Huayin and Yongji in Shanxi were the most severely affected, so they were called the Huaxian earthquake. Everyone knows that the death toll of the Tangshan earthquake is about 240,000, and the number of deaths in the Wenchuan earthquake is about 80,000, but the comparison with the Earthquake in Hua County is like a bull's hair, according to the "History of Ming", there are more than 830,000 people registered in the earthquake death toll, and there are countless unregistered people. And the death toll is so huge not just because of the earthquake, but because of a series of sufferings caused by the earthquake. The earthquake is still the world's largest earthquake victim.
Because of the characteristics of the Loess Plateau in Shaanxi, many people are living in cave dwellings, plus the earthquake occurred at night, after the loess collapsed, causing a large number of casualties, even if they escaped by chance, but because of the plague brought by the earthquake, coupled with the winter, with the conditions at that time, very few grain planted in winter, stored grain and cold clothing were buried in the ruins, which was undoubtedly worse for people at that time. After all, in ancient times, there were no such rescue conditions as now, so there were countless people who starved to death and froze, and the corpses were everywhere. If the disaster cannot be recovered in time, the people will not have enough to eat, and they will begin to snatch food everywhere, fight around, and countless dead and injured.
The "History of Ming" records the original text: (Jiajing) In December of the 34th year, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan were simultaneously earthquakes, and the sound was like thunder. Weinan, Huazhou, Chaoyi, Sanyuan, Puzhou and other places are particularly important. Or the ground is cracked and springy, there are fish, or the castle houses, plunged into the ground, or the flat ground suddenly becomes a mountain, or a few earthquakes a day, or a tired day of earthquakes. River, Wei Dapan, Huayue, Zhongnan Mountain Ming, Heqing for a few days. Officials, soldiers and civilians crushed 830,000 people to death. ”
In that era, the problem of food and clothing for the people had not yet been solved, and they had no ability to save themselves. What is even more fatal is that the earthquake relief system at that time was not perfect, and there was no way to solve the problem quickly, so that the plague was rampant, and the scene after the disaster was simply unbearable. Aftershocks occurred intermittently after the disaster, killing and injuring heavy, and the imperial court was embarrassed and burdened, such a tragic disaster, no matter which dynasty could not afford it.
Shaanxi was originally an earthquake-active place, with more than 400 felt earthquakes and more than 60 destructive earthquakes occurring in the past few thousand years. Today's geologists have examined history and concluded that the Huaxian earthquake reached a magnitude of 8.25 and an intensity of 11 degrees.
The ancients often said that man will triumph over heaven, but in fact this sentence is not entirely correct. We can avoid man-made disasters to a certain extent, but in the face of natural disasters, people are too small to resist.