Painful Aftermath - Portraits of Survival

Photographs by Alan Chin for Newsweek
The May 12 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province killed more than 67,000 and forced 5 million residents from their homes. Yingxiu, a small town at the epicenter of the quake was left in ruins, its boulder and debris-blocked roads hampering rescue efforts. The Chinese army and volunteer rescuers entered the town on foot or by bicycle within days of the disaster and were able to rescue some children and adults who had been trapped in the wreckage. About 2,300 of the town’s 10,000 residents survived the earthquake and its aftershocks. The destruction of Yingxiu’s schools was particularly tragic. Less than half of the town’s 81 preschoolers survived, and only 100 of the 400 elementary school students made it out alive. Here, a survivor (center) builds a shelter out of salvaged materials.