A huge earthquake in China ten years ago was a turning point

LI HAIJUN considers himself lucky. His home was destroyed by a huge earthquake that hit the south-western province of Sichuan on May 12th 2008. But like most of his neighbours in the mountain village of Wolong, 16km (10 miles) from the epicentre, he was busy tending his crops. He and his family all survived and spent nearly a year living in a tent. The government paid much of the cost of building a new house close by. The 25,000 yuan ($3,925) he had to contribute was no small sum, but Mr Li, who is 46, says he has no complaints. The disaster is still a bitter memory, but life is back to normal.

The earthquake, centred on Wenchuan county, killed about 70,000 people and left some 18,000 missing—the deadliest in the post-Mao era. It was not only a human tragedy, it was also a severe political test for the ruling Communist Party. In the age of the internet, the government’s response could be monitored nationwide in real time. Contrast that with the secrecy the Maoist system was able to impose on the Tangshan earthquake of 1976, in which around a quarter of a million people died. Its epicentre was a mere 150km from Tiananmen Square, yet it was years before the government even acknowledged the death toll. The Wenchuan earthquake occurred in a very different China—one with a large new middle class that was anxious to help. For a party unused to co-operation with civil society, this posed a challenge.