Historic Disasters That Were Way Worse Than People Think

Historic Disasters That Were Way Worse Than People Think

Khalid Elhassan - April 6, 2020

Historic Disasters That Were Way Worse Than People Think
The Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Shaanxi, whose top fell in the 1556 earthquake. My Veiling

25. Vulnerable Shaanxi

China’s Loess Region, and Shaanxi Province therein, in particular, are highly susceptible to warping from tectonic plate pressures. Lying smack dab in the middle of historic China, Shaanxi and the surrounding region are constantly squeezed by the tectonic plates converging on the country.

That creates faults that lend themselves to energetic seismic activity. In other words, when the pressure builds up from tectonic plates pressing in on the one atop which China rests, it sometimes gets released hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away in Shaanxi, in the form of major earthquakes.

Advertisement