Wenchuan (Sichuan) earthquake

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake on the Longmenshan fault killed about 69,000 people in Sichuan, with some 18,000 more never found. Collapsed schools, in which thousands of pupils died, prompted grief and anger over shoddy construction. Instead of rebuilding them, the authorities preserved the ruined towns of Beichuan and Yingxiu as memorials, with the national earthquake museum near Beichuan.