Wenchuan County, in the Sichuan Province of China, was struck on May 12, 2008, by an earthquake that measured 8.0 on the Richter scale¿the largest earthquake in the history of the People¿s Republic of China. Almost 90,000 people¿including more than 5,000 children¿died or disappeared as a result of the quake, which encompassed 500,000 square kilometers and affected nine other provinces outside Sichuan. Economic losses came to renminbi (RMB) 845 billion (US$132 billion).