Actually, the 7.8 Tangshan Quake of ‘76 was not in the same area. This was central China (since the US is almost exactly the same size, think of the area Wichita, KS), and Tangshan is northeast of Beijing (think Trenton, NJ).
China’s recent modernization should keep the final tally lower than Tangshan’s count. Also, the Tangshan quake hit at 3am, and was followed by a 7.7 aftershock at 7pm that night while they were starting recovery efforts.
Thanks for your comments. They were informative and I appreciated them.