Tangshan Earthquake (1976)

The Tangshan earthquake of 28 July 1976 killed between 242,000 and 655,000 people in a sleeping industrial city in northeastern China — the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century. The 7.6 magnitude quake struck at 3:42 AM when nearly all residents were asleep and demolished 93% of the city's residential buildings within seconds. The Chinese government suppressed international aid offers, and accurate casualty figures were not released for years.