2008 Sichuan Earthquake Dan Sinni Spring 2009. Contents I. Earthquake Overview II. Disaster Level...
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2008 Sichuan 2008 Sichuan Earthquake Earthquake Dan Sinni Dan Sinni Spring 2009 Spring 2009
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Transcript of 2008 Sichuan Earthquake Dan Sinni Spring 2009. Contents I. Earthquake Overview II. Disaster Level...
2008 Sichuan Earthquake2008 Sichuan Earthquake
Dan SinniDan SinniSpring 2009Spring 2009
ContentsContents
I.I. Earthquake OverviewEarthquake Overview
II.II. Disaster LevelDisaster Level
III.III. Effect on SchoolsEffect on Schools
IV.IV. Effect on Medical CareEffect on Medical Care
V.V. Aid ManagementAid Management
VI.VI. ConclusionConclusion
What Happened…What Happened…
• Thrust Fault on the Sichuan Basin Thrust Fault on the Sichuan Basin Known as the Longmenshan FaultKnown as the Longmenshan Fault
• Indian Plate Converged with Eurasion Indian Plate Converged with Eurasion PlatePlate
• Rupture Propagated at an Average Rupture Propagated at an Average Speed of 3.1 k/sSpeed of 3.1 k/s
On May 12th in the middle of the day the Eurasion plate and the Indian plate converged alone the Longmen Shan Fault Line. What occured was a reverse thrust motion that created one of the most deadly and destructive earthquakes in recorded history. The rupture propagated a at an average speed of 3.1 k/s which is a great pace.
StrengthStrength
• Magnitude of 8.0MsMagnitude of 8.0Ms
• XI Mercalli Intensity XI Mercalli Intensity Scale “Very Disastrous”Scale “Very Disastrous”
• Land Slides, Bridges Land Slides, Bridges Destroyed, Destroyed, Underground Pipelines Underground Pipelines Out of ServiceOut of Service
• VideoVideo
According to the U.S. Geological Society, the earthquake reached a magnitude of 8.0 on the richter scale. It also received a Seven on the Mercalli intensity scale. As we learned in class characteristics of a seven include land slides, bridges destroyed and masonry buildigns being destroyed as well as underground pipelines being damaged. Here is a video attached depicting some of the damage.
The epicenter was approximately 80 kilometers northwest of the capital of the Sichuan province. Tremors were felt in Beijing and Shanghai also where buildings swayed as far away as 1,700 kilometers away.
Extent of ShocksExtent of Shocks
• Tremors were felt in over 10 countries Tremors were felt in over 10 countries surrounding China including: surrounding China including: Russia Russia
IndiaIndia
PakistanPakistan
TaiwanTaiwan
ThailandThailand
Tremors continued for up to seven months according to the USGS. That is a very long time and shows the extent of the earthquake. Tremors were also felt in about 12 neighboring countries some as far away as the middle east.
AftermathAftermath
• Highways DamagedHighways Damaged
• Hundreds of Thousands Hundreds of Thousands Gone MissingGone Missing
• Wireless Wireless Communications DownCommunications Down
• 80% Buildings Collapsed 80% Buildings Collapsed in One Countyin One County
• Power Plants, Bridges, Power Plants, Bridges, and Dams Damagedand Dams Damaged
After all was done, there was mass destruction everywhere. As we see there were highways damaged, many missing, wireless communications were down and in the worst hit areas skyscrapers and other tall buildings fell.
Effect on SchoolsEffect on Schools• Thousands of Schools Thousands of Schools
CollapsedCollapsed
• Approx 7,000 Classrooms Approx 7,000 Classrooms CollapsedCollapsed
• 2 Million Sq. Meters of School 2 Million Sq. Meters of School Property ToppledProperty Toppled
• Some Areas Whole Schools Some Areas Whole Schools Collapsed Burying HundredsCollapsed Burying Hundreds
• 7% of Total Death Toll Was 7% of Total Death Toll Was StudentsStudents
• 1.3% of Total Collapsed 1.3% of Total Collapsed Properties was SchoolsProperties was Schools
• Approx 8,500 Students Approx 8,500 Students Orphaned by QuakeOrphaned by Quake
Many of these statistics are from the UNICEF website discussing the earthquake. As we see this has been one of the most talked about issues of this earthquake. All in all over 69,000 people were killed in this earthquake. Thousands of schools were destroyed, including about 7,000 whole classrooms collapsed. Hundreds were buried alive and about 1.3% of the total damaged property was schools and 7% of the death toll were students. This is an astronomical amount and it made this earthquake the 19th most deadliest one on record.
““Tofu-Dreg Schoolhouses”Tofu-Dreg Schoolhouses”
• June 1June 1stst 2008 2008 “Childrens Day” “Childrens Day” Where Parents Visited Where Parents Visited Rubble to Mourn Rubble to Mourn ChildrenChildren
• Questions About Questions About Infrastructure Infrastructure RaisedRaised
• Chinese Chinese Government Government Claims to Begin Claims to Begin Investigation on Investigation on Poor InfrastructurePoor Infrastructure
The collapse of so many schools caused much debate in China. Numerous protests took place by parents and students. over 8,500 students were orphaned. People began to question the stability of the infrastructure of a lot of these schools. The earthquake happened in the middle of the day so everyone was at school. The Chinese government has began screening blogs and sensoring all protests but they still continued. June 1st was Childrens Day and parents went to the rubble of theo fallen schools and displayed pictures of their dead children. The poor infrastructure led to the nicknames of the schools as Tofu Dreg schoolhouses.
Help ArrivesHelp Arrives
• Response Almost Response Almost ImmediateImmediate
• Helicopters, Water, Helicopters, Water, Food, Supplies, Tents Food, Supplies, Tents Sent Out Later in the Sent Out Later in the DayDay
• Military Personnel Military Personnel Destroyed (50,000)Destroyed (50,000)
• President Flew to Zone President Flew to Zone 90 Minutes After90 Minutes After
The Chinese government responded almost immediately to assist in the recovery effort. 50,000 military personnel were deployed as well as helicopters, food and supplies. The Chinese President, who even had education in reagrds to geological sciences flew to the epicenter within an hour and a half of the completion. In the end the government spent 441 Billion dollars on the relief effort and recovery.
Effect on Medical CareEffect on Medical Care
• Landslides and other destruction Landslides and other destruction prevented rescue workers to reach buried prevented rescue workers to reach buried victims in sufficient timevictims in sufficient time
Although the response was immediate there was difficulty in reaching those hurt. We see here in this picutre a land slide blocking rescue workers from reaching a disaster area.
Medical Efforts Have Medical Efforts Have DifficultyDifficulty
• Weather Hinders Rescue EffortsWeather Hinders Rescue Efforts
• Communication Down in Hardest Hit Communication Down in Hardest Hit AreasAreas
• National Disaster Relief Commission National Disaster Relief Commission Issues a Level II Emergency PlanIssues a Level II Emergency Plan
• Red Cross of China Asked for Money Red Cross of China Asked for Money Instead of Rescue Workers and Instead of Rescue Workers and SuppliesSupplies
As we see, harsh weather also hindered relief efforts. It rained all day during the couple of days after the earthquake which also contributed to the difficulty of reaching people. The Red Cross of China asked for money instead of workers and supplies which was strange but at the time workers would not help since it was so difficult to reach people. Landslides and downed powerlines also made it very difficult to help those in need.
International AidInternational Aid
• UNICEFUNICEF
• European UnionEuropean Union
• 1.5 Billion in aid from 1.5 Billion in aid from Chinese public alone Chinese public alone in first weekin first week
• 4.5 Billion from public 4.5 Billion from public donations totaldonations total
• Numerous countries Numerous countries and organizations and organizations contributedcontributed
The response by the international community was unbelievable. Within the first week, public donations reached up to 4.5 billion dollars. There were countless private organizations and countries that sent aid immediately. Chinese officials publicly asked for help on May 14th, two days after the earthquake occured.
RecommendationsRecommendations
• Need to have better infrastructure.Need to have better infrastructure.• Better communication systemsBetter communication systems• Government should not interfere and Government should not interfere and
sensor protestssensor protests• Better Emergency response and Better Emergency response and
coordination neededcoordination needed• Data was now available to help Data was now available to help
analyze and predict future analyze and predict future earthquakesearthquakes
My own recommendations as well as those from outside sources stress a major need to improve the infrastrucutre of the buildings being rebuilt, most importantly the schools. The government also needs to allow protestors to raise questions about the buildings to help put pressure ont he government to do the right thing.
ConclusionConclusion
• Need to Improve InfrastructureNeed to Improve Infrastructure
• Nineteenth Most Disastrous Nineteenth Most Disastrous EarthquakeEarthquake
• Need Better Emergency Relief ZonesNeed Better Emergency Relief Zones
As we conclude we can sum up the presentation by recapping. This was the 19th most deadly earthquake. There is a need to increase better infrastructure with the reconstruction of schools. There is also a lot of data that needs to be collected and better coordination between countries to analyze data and help predict future earthquakes.
Questions?Questions?
SourcesSources
• Unicef.comUnicef.com• One-Child Policy Lifted for Quake Victims’ One-Child Policy Lifted for Quake Victims’
Parents. New York Times. Parents. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/worldhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/world/asia/27child.html/asia/27child.html. .
• Wikipedia.comWikipedia.com• Usgs.govUsgs.gov• http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-
05/17/content_6692329.htm05/17/content_6692329.htm. .
