The ruin of Xuankou Middle School. located in the town of Yingxiu in Wenchuan county in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, is now a memorial site for the Wenchuan earthquake. Photo: VCG

Military personnel traverse a damaged road in quake-hit Yingxiu town on May 15, 2008. The magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck Wenchuan on May 12, 2008, resulting in enormous casualties and economic losses. Photo: VCG

According to the official report, the earthquake left 69,227 dead, 374,643 injured, and 17,923 missing. Photo: VCG

A medical worker cries as the rescue work progresses on May 15, 2008, in Dujiangyan. The earthquake killed more than 3,000 in the city. Photo: VCG

A villager returning home with provisions dropped by a helicopter on May 17, 2008, in Shifang. Photo: VCG

Rescue personnel cry after saving a victim who was buried under rubble for 124 hours in Deyang on May 17, 2008. Photo: VCG

The earthquake reduced buildings to debris in hard-hit Beichuan county. Photo: VCG

Beichuan was almost completely leveled by the earthquake. The government relocated the county headquarters to Yongchang, about 20 kilometers away, after the disaster. Photo: VCG

A child walks past photos of students who died in the earthquake propped up with flowers and stuffed animal toys in the playground of the Fuxin No. 2 Primary School in Mianzhu in July 2008. Photo: VCG

White flowers hang on the fence of Beichuan Middle School in April 2009 in memory of the students who died in the earthquake. Photo: VCG