The Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 caused huge casualties,economic losses,and building damages,which are analyzed.The results show that damages of houses designed according to the current seismic code were significantly smaller than those without such design,suggesting that the code has achieved the desired goal of seismic fortification.Buildings of different kinds of structures showed large differences in damages:Houses with steel-frames and shear walls or steel structures suffered the least damages; those with frames or with brick-and-concrete structures suffered more; old cottages,the most.