Edited photos have been circulating online depicting the July 28, 1976, 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Tangshan and the transformation that the city has undergone in the last 40 years.

According to Shanghaiist, the earthquake in Tangshan is considered one of the deadliest earthquakes to hit the country.

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The pictures, edited by Chinese netizens, shows Tangshan then and the now, highlighting the massive change that the city has undergone over the past 40 years. Looking at the city today, one would not think that more than 650,000 people died there during one of China's greatest tragedy in history. Some sources claim, however, that the death toll was only about 200,000 people.

The photos are a combination of black and white, and colored. While the black and white displays how the devastated city looked liked in 1976, the colored part shows how Tangshan has risen from the ashes since. Tangshan boasts of brightly lit skyscrapers, high-rise residential units, shopping centers and malls, and a population of more than three million dwellers. 

On Weibo, some Chinese citizens have expressed pride about how the seemingly impossible-to-survive tragedy has become a symbol of development and rebirth.

Tagschinese earthquake, tangshan earthquake, tangshan earthquake 1976, China earthquake, china earthquake 1976, tangshan china earthquake 1976