A six-foot section of the Great Wall of China collapsed as a result of the earthquake of 6.9 degrees on the open Richter scale that shook the northwest of the country last Saturday, official media reported today. The collapsed section dates from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and is located in the province of Gansu, 114 kilometers from the place where the epicenter of the earthquake was located, according to the state newspaper Global Times. The area has been provisionally secured and reconstruction and restoration work has already begun, adds the media.
The earthquake that collapsed a portion of China’s most iconic monument occurred last Saturday at 01:45 local time (17:45 GMT on Friday) in a “sparsely populated” area of remote Qinghai province, which with just under 6 million inhabitants is one of the least populated in the country. Apart from the collapse of the wall, the collapse of stables and damage to more than 200 houses, the earthquake It did not cause significant material losses and no fatalities. A total of nine people were injured, of which eight had already been discharged the following day, and another 65 were temporarily relocated.
The Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, is made up of what were originally numerous disconnected sections built by small states to defend themselves against invasions from the north. It was the self-proclaimed first emperor of China, Qin Shi (221-210 BC) who decided to unite them, connecting a stretch of thousands of kilometers that prevented the Mongol hordes of horse archers from easy access to the empire.
.