away. One-third of the nation felt it .A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut across houses,roads and canals.Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen terrible seconds a large lay in ruins.The suffering of the people was extreme. Tow-thirds of them died or were injured during the earthquake.Thounds of families were killed and many chidren were left without parents. The number of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000.But how could the survivors believe it was natural?Everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed. All of the citys hospitals,75%of its factories and buildings and 90%of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, however,could below they away. Two dams and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for travelling. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were dead. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocked. Then later that afternoon,another big quake which was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins. More buildings fell down. Water,food, and eletricity were hard to get. People began to wongder how long the disater would last. All hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soliders to Tangshan to help the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. The army organized teams to dig out those were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the city by train,truck and plane. Slowly, the city began to breathe again. A SAFE HOME It is sad but that people die in earthquakes from falling furniture and bricks. Earthquake safety is very important and there is more to it than just keeping buildings from falling down. So if your home is in an earthquake area,you should prepare carefully before the earthquake comes. First, make sure you buy a house which is earthquake safe. All pipes should be fixed to the wall and all walls should be especially thick and strong. You also have to make sure that there are bolts underneath your house. They are one of the most important ways of protecting a house. Make sure the building has no breaken windows and is well repaired. Second ,look at the objects in your house. Those in the living room,which are the most likely to hurt us, are computers, televisions and lamps. They can be tied to tables or them so they wont easily move around. The kitchen, which is also very dangerous, must have strong doors on all the cupboards. This is the place where many small things are stored that might fall down. The water heater should have a case round it too. Windows are special problem. When they break, glass can cause many accidents,. It is better to use safety glass if you can, especially for pictures. Always remember:” It is better to be safe than sorry.” THE STORY OF AN EYEWITNESSBy Jack London Never before in history has a city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. Nothing is left of it but memories and some houses far from the centre of the city. Its buniness are gone. The factories,hotelsand palace are all gone too. Within an hour after the earthquake, the smoke of SanFrancios fires could been seen 160 kilometres away. The sun is red in the dark sky. There was no stopping the fires. There was no way to organize or communicate. The steel railway tracks were now useless. And the great pipes for carrying water under the streets had burst. All of the ways man had made to keep the city safe were gone in the thirty second the earth moved. Out at sea it was calm. No wind came up. Yet from every direction-east,weast,north,andsouth,strong winds blew upon the unlucky city. Man himself had to make ruins of the citys best buildings so that they would not be a danger to those in the streets. A list of buildings undesteryed was now only a few addresses. A list of the brave men and the women would fill a library. A list of all those killed will never be made. Amazing as it may seem, Wednesday night was a quiet night. There were no crowds. The policemen saidnothing; even their horses were quit. There were no shouts or people doing crazy things. In all those terrible hours I saw not one woman who cried, not one man who was excited. Before the fires, through the night, thousands and thousands of people who had lost their homes left for safety. Some were covered in blankets. Sometimes whole families put everything they owned and could save into wagons. They helped one another climb the high hills around the city. Never in all SanFrsncios histroy were her people so kind as on that terrible