Over 69,000 people lost their lives in the quake , including 68,636 in Sichuan province . 374,176 were reported injured , with 18,222 listed as missing as of July 2008 . The geohazards triggered by the earthquake are thought to be responsible for at least one third of the death toll . The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless , though the number could be as high as 11 million . Approximately 15 million people lived in the affected area . It was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake , which killed at least 240,000 people , and the strongest in the country since the 1950 Chayu earthquake , which registered at 8.5 on the Richter magnitude scale . It is the 18th deadliest earthquake of all time . On November 6 , 2008 , the central government announced that it would spend 1 trillion RMB ( about US$ 146.5 billion ) over the next three years to rebuild areas ravaged by the earthquake , as part of the Chinese economic stimulus program
1950 Chayu earthquake
1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake
2008 Sichuan earthquake