The Deadliest Earthquake

Tangshan earthquake which was the Deadliest Earthquake in China changed many families’ lives. How did it change? In 1976, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake happened in the city of Tangshan, in northeastern China. It happened without any omens, and broken residents’ dreams. At that time, my grandparents and my father lived in the city of Tangshan. According to their memories, there are more than 240 thousand people were killed in that terrible event and about 100 million were injured. My families are survivors during the earthquake. Some old houses in their region were flattened, though nobody were killed or injured. However, the disaster has a big influence on my family in three significant areas: economy, education, and the health.
First, the Tangshan earthquake affected the economy of my family. Most of the houses collapsed. All the people dared not to go to stay in their houses. So many tents were built outside. My grandparents and my father had to live in the tents for many days. They also had to deal with not enough water, food, or electricity. It was very painful. My grandma said," thirty years has passed but it was like happened yesterday." Because most of residential buildings and industrial buildings were completely destroyed, so my grandparents moved to another city where I had lived for eighteen years before I moved to the U.S. I always said that I’m lucky. If my grandparents didn’t move to another city, my father and my mother would have never gotten married.
Next, the Tangshan earthquake a the education of my father. My father was only thirteen years old at that time. With so much damage, my father couldn’t go to school for study. While education is important, my father couldn’t receive the education because of the earthquake. It almost damaged my father’s dream. He wanted to be a teacher when he was young. He liked teaching and wanted to help students with their studies. The earthquake changed my father’s lives. Now, he is a doctor. He said that he wanted to save more people’s life because he saw many people lost their life in the earthquake. He hopes that people cherish their lives because many people wanted to be alive but couldn’t.
Then the Tangshan earthquake affected the health of my family. The members of my family had psychological trauma from then on. They were afraid of the disaster. They were survivors and they didn't want to undergo that kind of disaster one more time. They don’t want to see the separate with the relatives. After the earthquake, they also thought the buildings would collapse for a long period. They couldn’t sleep well and dare not stay at home. Now, my grandparents are calm when they talk about the earthquake. However, the memory won't disappear even with the passing of time.
Now, the city of Tangshan is beautiful. It was been rebuilt and everything isdifferent. Although this kind of big earthquake hasn't happened for the past few years, aftershocks happen frequently. That is always the case. Nevertheless, no matter what influence the earthquake brought, the slump of the economy, the sadness, or the psychological panic; in the face of a natural disaster, The Chinese people never feel despaired. We are still filled with courage. We are full of hopes and dreams.