Reginald DesRoches , a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Tech , pointed out that the massive damage of properties and houses in the earthquake area was because China did not create an adequate seismic design code until after the devastating 1976 Tangshan earthquake . DesRoches said : " If the buildings were older and built prior to that 1976 earthquake , chances are they were n't built for adequate earthquake forces . " In the days following the disaster , an international reconnaissance team of engineers was dispatched to the region to make a detailed preliminary survey of damaged buildings . Their findings show a variety of reasons why many constructions failed to withstand the earthquake
1976 Tangshan earthquake
1976 Tangshan earthquake
2008 Sichuan earthquake