Timeline

2:28 pm, May 12, 2008: An 8.0-magnitude earthquake strikes Wenchuan, Sichuan province.

May 13: Rescuers reach Beichuan county and Yingxiu township in Wenchuan, the epicenter.

May 14: Telecom services in some worst-hit counties restored.

May 15: A Japanese team arrives in China to join rescue efforts.

May 19-21: Three days of national mourning observed.

May 24: Premier Wen Jiabao and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrive in Yingxiu.

June 8: A State Council regulation on reconstruction of quake-affected areas is released.

Sept 25: Confirmed quake death toll stands at 69,227, with 17,923 missing.

June 8, 2009: Reconstruction of the new county seat of Beichuan, the area with the highest death toll, is launched.

Dec 31: Reconstruction of 1.45 million rural homes in Sichuan is completed.

Sept 3, 2010: More than 90 percent of 259,000 urban households destroyed are rebuilt.

Sept 31: Sichuan Governor Jiang Jufeng says quake reconstruction is "basically complete".

Feb 1, 2011: An official ceremony is held to inaugurate Beichuan's new county seat.

May 7-9: Premier Wen pays his 10th visit to quake-hit areas in Sichuan.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/01/2011 page65)