A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDN'T SLEEP
Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei.For three days the water in the village wells rose and fell,rose and fell.Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them.A smelly gas came out of the cracks.In the farmyards,the chickens and even the pigs were too nervois to eat.Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide.Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds.At about 3:00 am on july 28,1976,some people saw bright lights in the sky.The sound of planes could be heard outside the city of Tangshan even when no planes were in the sky.In the city,the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst.but the one million people of the city,who thiught little of these events,were asleep as usual that night.
At 3:42 am everything began to shake.It seemed as if the world was at an end!Eleven kilometres directly below the city the greatest earthquake of the 20th century had begun.It was felt in Beijing,which is more than two hundred kilometres away.One-third of the nation felt it.A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut across houses,roads and canals.Steam burst from holes in the ground.Hard hills of rock became rivers of dir.In fifteen terrible seconds a large city lay in ruins.The suffering of the people was extreme.Two-thirds of them died or were left without parents.The number of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000.
But how could the survivors believe it was natural?Everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed.All of the city's hospitals,75%of its factories and buildings and 90% of its homes were gone.Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves.No wind,however,could blow them away.Two dams fell and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for travelling.The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel.Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again.Half a million oigs and millions of chickens were dead.Sand now filled the wells instead of water.People were shocked.Then,later that afternoon,another big quake which was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan.Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins.More buildings fell down.Water,food,and electricity were hard to get.people begab to wonder how long the disaster would last.
All hope was not lost.Soon after the quakes,the army sent 150,000 soldiers to Tangshan to help the rescue workers.Hundreds of thousands of people were helped.The army organized teams to dig out those who were trapped and to bury the dead.To the north of the city,most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there.Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed.Fresh water was taken to the city bu train,truck and plane.Slowly,the city began to breathe again.
Office of the City Government
Tangshan,Hebei
河北省東北部的農(nóng)村不斷有些怪事發(fā)生.三天來,村子里的井水升升降降,起起伏伏,農(nóng)民注意到,水井的井壁上有深深的裂縫,裂縫里冒著臭氣,農(nóng)家大院里的雞設置豬也緊張到不想吃食,老鼠從田地里跑出來找地方藏身,魚缸和池塘里的魚會往外跳,在1976年七月28日凌晨3點左右.有些人看到天上有一道道明亮的光,即使沒有飛機飛過.在唐山城外也可以聽到飛機聲.在市內(nèi).有些建筑物的水管爆開來,但是.唐山市的一百萬居民幾乎都沒有把這些情況當一回事.當晚照常的睡了.
在凌晨3點42分.一切開始搖晃起來了.世界似乎到了末日.二十世紀最大的地震就在唐山市正下方11公里處發(fā)生了.100公里外的北京市都感到了震感.全國三分之一的地方都有震感.一條8公里的長,30米寬的巨大裂縫橫穿房舍.馬路和渠道.地上一些洞穴冒出了蒸汽.石頭山變成了泥沙河,在可怕的十五秒內(nèi)一座大城市就沉淪在一片廢墟之中.人們遭受的災難極為嚴重.2/3的人在地震中死亡或受傷.成千上萬個家庭遇難.許多小孩變成了孤兒.死傷人數(shù)到達了40多萬.幸存的人怎么能相信這個是自然現(xiàn)象.人們無論朝哪里看,那里的一切幾乎都被毀了.所有市內(nèi)的醫(yī)院,75%的工廠和建筑物,90%的家園都消失了.殘磚就像秋天的紅葉覆蓋著大地.然而他們不可能被風吹走,兩座大壩跨了.多數(shù)橋梁不是塌了就是無法完全通行了.鐵軌如今變成了一條條廢鋼.好幾萬頭牛再也擠不出奶來了.50萬頭豬和幾百萬頭雞全都死了.井里滿是撒子而不是水 ,人們驚呆了,接著,在下午的晚些時候,又一次和第一次一樣強烈的地震震撼著唐山,有些醫(yī)生和救援人人員被困在廢墟下面,更多發(fā)房屋倒塌了,水電和食物都很難弄到,人們開始納悶這場災難還會持續(xù)多久,不是所有的希望都破滅了,地震后不久,部隊派了15萬名戰(zhàn)士到唐山來協(xié)助救援人員,數(shù)十萬人得到了幫助,部分人員組成了小分隊,將受困的人們挖出來,將死者掩埋,在唐山市的北邊,有一個煤礦,其中萬名礦工得救了,救援人員為那些家園被毀的幸存者蓋起了避難所.用火車,卡車,和飛機向市內(nèi)運來了水,慢慢地,這座城市又開始出現(xiàn)了生機