Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of the catastrophic Tangshan earthquake in north China's Hebei province. More than 242,000 people were killed in the disaster.
President Xi Jinping attended the memorials held for the victims and expressed condolences to their families. The magnitude-7.8 quake struck the industrial city in the early morning of July 28, 1976, when most of the victims were asleep.
Xi stressed the importance of the relationship between disaster risk prevention and management and economic development. He also urged the public to learn from experience, be responsible, and improve capacity in disaster management.
