History Today | Sichuan Songpan Earthquake Colombian passenger plane crashed in Venezuela

Sichuan Songpan earthquake

August 16, 1976 (lunar month twenty), Songpan earthquake.

August 16, 1976 and 23 May, between the northern part of Sichuan Province, Songpan, Pingwu two powerful earthquakes have occurred in 7.2, so Songpan, Pingwu, Nanping, Wen County and other counties were damaged.

The Songpan and Pingwu areas are located at the confluence of the northeastern Longmenshan tectonic belt, the West Qinling east-west tectonic belt, and the Minshan north-south tectonic belt, and their structures are relatively complex. The earthquake occurred on the Huya fault zone in the north-south tectonic belt of Lushan Mountain. The entire area of ​​the Huya fault zone is nearly north-south, reaching more than 40 kilometers. Although the formation of the early fracture zone, but there are many activities. According to the data of isofracture line shape, seismic activity, focal mechanism solution, and distribution of ground fissures, the earthquake is the result of intense activity in the near-south-north to Huya fault.

The distribution of mountains, water systems and tectonic belts in the earthquake zone is basically the same. In the area, the mountains are steep and steep. The rivers are strongly cut. The rivers are often shaped like “ V ” shaped valleys. The bedrock is bare and the terraces and modern sediments are not very developed. They are strongly rising erosion areas. The western part of the earthquake zone is the Songpan Plateau, and the eastern part of the earthquake zone is gradually descending to the middle and low mountain areas, reflecting the fact that this area is a new activity zone with high plateau disintegration and strong rise in the later period.

Due to the earthquake zone is located in the mountains and canyons, surface collapse seriously, ground fissures are generally less developed, only 16 August 7, yuanbaoshan level 2 earthquake zones (north-south), showing a cross-section of the ridge, opening Wide near the east-west cracks.

The vast majority of the area is a good-quality hopper wooden structure housing with good seismic performance and therefore less damage. However, due to the severely rising erosion zone in the earthquake area, the rock is severely crushed and weathered. In addition, continuous heavy rain, collapse, meteorite, mudslides, and other serious disasters cause traffic jams, river congestion, and houses to be damaged or washed away. Destroyed.

Colombian passenger plane crashes in Venezuela killed 160 people

2005 August 16 (lunar July 12), Colombian airliner crashed in Venezuela, 160 people were killed. According to the report, Colombia’s West Caribbean Airlines, to which the accident aircraft belonged, was only established for five years and provided only regional cheap route services in Colombia and the Caribbean.

According to Venezuelan aviation department officials, the pilots of the airliner reported to the Caracas airport command tower at 3:00 a.m. local time to report the failure of the twin engines and requested an emergency landing. However, about 10 minutes later, the airport lost radio contact with this plane.

152 French Martinique residents spent a long week of vacation in Panama and returned on a passenger plane from Colombia’s West Caribbean Airlines. However, they did not think that it would be a human tragedy to wait for them after a pleasant holiday. The passenger plane crashed in the west of Venezuela on the morning of the 16th , local time , and 152 passengers and 8 crew members all died.

A fireball falls from the sky

On the island of Martinique, a travel agency called “Global Express” organised a trip to Panama for a leisure holiday and chartered a “McDonnell- 82 ” passenger aircraft from Colombia’s West Caribbean Airlines . However, the plane was in trouble shortly after taking off from Togoman International Airport near Panama City.

Paz, head of the National Aeronautical Administration of Venezuela, said that around 3 am, the pilot of the plane reported to the control tower of the Venezuela’s Capital Airport that there were problems with both engines. Subsequently, the aircraft dropped sharply at a rate of 2,100 meters per minute . About 10 minutes later, the tower personnel lost radio contact with the plane. At the time, the plane was close to the border with Venezuela and Colombia. “Local residents said they heard the explosion,” Pas said.

One witness described the scene of an air crash. He saw a ball of fire falling rapidly from the air and then exploded.

Fortunate passengers escaped

After the plane crashed, Venezuela immediately dispatched a helicopter and launched an emergency rescue operation. However, due to the remoteness of the crash site and poor weather, the rescue operation was once blocked.

Venezuela’s director of Civil Defence Rivero said that the crash site was quite tragic. The area around 3 hectares was razed to the ground and the remains of the deceased and aircraft fragments scattered throughout. "There are burnt bodies everywhere. It's terrible. There are no survivors," said a firefighter who participated in the rescue.

At the time of writing, rescue workers have discovered the remains of 56 victims and sent them by helicopter to a university in Maracaibo for waiting for their loved ones to come and identify and collect them.

But unfortunately, something extremely lucky happened. A passenger who had originally prepared to board the plane did not board the plane for other reasons and was lucky enough to escape the catastrophe. Because of this, there are 153 passengers on the passenger list published by the French civil aviation authorities, and the number provided by the Colombian civil aviation authority is 152 passengers.

More than one child is an orphan

The crash was the most serious crash in France in the past 13 years. The French nation was shocked. French President Jacques Chirac said in a statement that he was "shocked and saddened" by the crash and expressed condolences to the families of the victims. The French government dispatched Barrouan, an overseas territorial minister, immediately to Martinique, and set up a crisis management center in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to maintain contact with Venezuelan authorities and the families of the victims.

Martinique is even more immersed in sorrow and crying. More than 30 residents of the city ​​of Dico participated in the tour. More than 150 relatives and friends of the deceased gathered in front of the city hall to wait for the news. Many people cried and cried. There are also more than a dozen residents in Bassant City who died in the air crash. Sharon Ponzi said that several local couples have participated in tours. “Today, several children here are unfortunately orphans.”

The information in this article comes from the Internet and was reorganized and edited by China Rescue Equipment Network.