REMEMBERING CHINA’S EARTHQUAKE DISASTER.

Part I

MAY 12, 2008

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

MAGNITUDE 8.0 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES CHINA’S SICHUAN

PROVINCE

2:30 PM LOCAL TIME

MAY 12, 2008

WHAT HAPPENED?

• The deadliest earthquake in China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake.

• 80 percent of the buildings in Beichuan County of Sichuan Province collapsed.

MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY

• More than 10,000 injuries.• Current estimate of dead at

12,000, but that number is expected to rise.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARTHQUAKE

• Epicenter was located 100 km (60 miles) from Chengdu, the provincial capital, which is on edge of the Tibetan foothills and home to about 10 million people.

• This earthquake occurred on a well known fault zone, which has generated destructive earthquakes in the past (e.g., on 25 August 1933).

COMPARISON WITH 1976 TANGSHAN EARTHQUAKE

• This earthquake was more than 2 x larger than the July 28,1976 Tangshan earthquake, which caused at least 240,000 deaths.

• But, the epicenter of the 1976 quake was directly under Tangshan.

WHAT HAPPENED IN CHANGDU?

• Eyewitness account: “Traffic jams, no running water, power outages, everyone sitting in the streets, patients evacuated from hospitals, and cell phones inoperable.”

CHANGDU, 100 KM FROM EPICENTER

CHANGDU: DEBRIS

CHANGDU: RUPTURED WATER PIPE

CHANDU: PREMIER WEN JIABAO PLANS RELIEF; MAY 12

EMERGENCY RESOURCES

• More than 20,000 military personnel ordered to assist in high-damage areas.

• Estimates of dead at end of first day was 10,000, but that number is expected to rise.

CHANGDU STUDENTS FEAR AFTERSHOCKS: MAY 12

SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE

• Many buildings collapsed in the epicentral region.

• Collapses included: 9 schools, one hospital, and one chemical plant.

• 900 students were trapped in the rubble of a collapsed 3-story middle school.

SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE

• Some roads were impassable because of landslides.

• Hundreds were trapped in a collapsed chemical plant.

• The collapse caused a spill of 80 tons of liquid ammonia.

DUJIANGYAN: COLLAPSED BUILDING

COLLAPSED HOME: DUJIANGYAN

IMMEDIATE SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORTS

VICTIM OF SCHOOL COLLAPSE RECEIVING MEDICAL

ATTENTION

DONATING BLOOD

INJURED MAN RUSHED TO HOSPITAL

BUT HOSPITAL IN FUYANG: WAS EVACUATING PATIENTS

GROUND SHAKING FELT OVER LONG DISTANCES

• The ground shaking excited tall buildings in Beijing, 1550 km away, and caused them to sway for several minutes.

• Tall buildings in Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam were also excited into motion.

• Some fled; others were evacuated..

NO DAMAGE TO THREE GORGES DAM:1,000 KM AWAY

BUILDINGS SHOOK IN BEIJING; 1550 KM FROM EPICENTER

EVACUATION IN BANGKOK, THAILAND