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China Quake Beat the Odds

Unusual seismic conditions led to disaster, scientists say

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 30, 2008 4:06 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The earthquake that leveled parts of China’s Sichuan province last month was a geological oddity arising from usually inactive faults, LiveScience reports. The bizarre seismological coincidences behind the quake explain why no one was able to predict the event, which claimed 69,000 lives.

Seismic activity in the area normally manifests itself when the earth's crust rises and flows rather than buckling. "Nobody was thinking there would be a major seismological event," said an MIT seismologist. "This earthquake was quite unusual."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, accompany by the Chinese officials visit the collapsed Tengda Physical Club in the quake hit Dujiangyan, in southwest China's Sichuan province Sunday, June 29, 2008.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, accompany by the Chinese officials visit the collapsed Tengda Physical Club in the quake hit Dujiangyan, in southwest China's Sichuan province Sunday, June...   (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool)
A woman carries furniture from her home which was destroyed by the May 12 earthquake and flooding from the Tanjiashan quake-formed lake in Beichuan county, in southwest China's Sichuan province Tuesday, June 24, 2008.
A woman carries furniture from her home which was destroyed by the May 12 earthquake and flooding from the Tanjiashan quake-formed lake in Beichuan county, in southwest China's Sichuan province Tuesday,...   (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Two women collect bricks from a factory damaged during the May 12 earthquake in Hongbai, southwest China's Sichuan province, Tuesday, June 17, 2008.
Two women collect bricks from a factory damaged during the May 12 earthquake in Hongbai, southwest China's Sichuan province, Tuesday, June 17, 2008.   (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China • Tibet • tectonic plates • earthquake • Sichuan province • China earthquake • seismology

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