Abandoned Disaster City of Beichuan, China (Sitios fantasma XX) – 24 Tales of Ghost Towns and Abandoned Cities – WebUrbanist

Abandoned Disaster City of  Beichuan, China

A sudden and devastating earthquake leveled or unbalanced virtually every major building in Beichuan, leaving thousands dead and tens of thousands displaced to public buildings in nearby cities. Due to the extent of the damage it is unclear whether this city will be rebuilt or simply left to go to ruin – its reconstruction would require the leveling of most or all of the buildings that remain from the disaster.

vía 24 Tales of Ghost Towns and Abandoned Cities Abandoned Disaster City of Beichuan, China – WebUrbanist.

Mapping the earthquake zone

More than 71,000 people are dead, missing or buried under rubble following the devastating earthquake that hit China’s Sichuan province. Click on the map to find out more about some of the worst-affected places.

Beichuan rises from ashes after ’08 Sichuan disaster

BEICHUAN — The Beichuan county was flattened by the 7.8-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province on May 12 two years ago.
More than 80 percent of the county’s buildings, including the worst-hit Beichuan High School, collapsed, leaving more than 20,000 people homeless.
The entire county has been moved to Yongchang town about 23 km from the former quake site for reconstruction which began last year. The new county will make its debut in October.

China Lets Town’s Ruins Wash Away, in Effort to Avert Disaster Downriver

By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — Low-lying areas in one of the towns most devastated by the May 12 earthquake were flooded Tuesday as a torrent of water was released from a dangerous lake formed by landslides, dislodging wrecked homes, cars and corpses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/world/asia/11quake.html?_r=1

Beichuan: a vision of hell

Beichuan was a town of 160,000 nestling in one of the world’s most beautiful valleys. When rescuers arrived yesterday, they found a scene of unimaginable devastation and despair

By Clifford Coonan in Beichuan

China remembers Sichuan earthquake victims on first anniversary of disaster
The survivors of the Sichuan earthquake have marked its first anniversary by remembering the 88,000 people who died in China’s worst natural disaster for 30 years.

By Peter Foster in Beijing

Aftershock triggers slides at quake epicenter
Anger over collapsed schools grows as China’s official toll tops 22,000

Ruined Beichuan Starts Anew

by MELISSA BLOCK

When the 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit southwest China on May 12, 2008, Beichuan county was among the hardest hit. Twenty thousand people died in that county alone. In the county seat, it’s believed half the population perished.

Thousands of bodies remain entombed in the rubble of Beichuan. The city is in a deep valley, with mountains on all sides. The force of the earthquake sheared off the sides of those mountains, and the landslides roared straight down onto the city.

The city of Beichuan is abandoned. A fence topped with concertina wire prevents entry. But the ruined city has become a tourist attraction anyway.