Emergency and Disaster Reports 2016; 3 (4): 3-48 Reports · natural disasters (58.8%), but floods account for the most people affected (64.0%). [1] In addition, China faces many technological

EmergencyandDisasterReports2016;3(4):3-48

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EmergencyandDisasterReports

ISSN2340-9932 Vol3,Num4,2016

Monographicissue

AnapproachtothedisasterprofileofPeople’sRepublic

ofChina1980-2013

EmmaVanRij

UniversityofOviedo–DepartmentofMedicineUnitforResearchinEmergencyandDisaster


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Letterfromtheeditors

TheEmergencyandDisasterReportsisajournaleditedbytheUnitforResearchinEmergencyandDisasteroftheDepartmentofMedicineoftheUniversityofOviedo aimed to introduce research papers, monographic reviews andtechnical reports related to the fields of Medicine and Public Health in thecontextsofemergencyanddisaster.Bothsituationsareeventsthatcandeeplyaffectthehealth,theeconomy,theenvironmentandthedevelopmentoftheaffectedpopulations.

Thetopicscoveredbythejournalincludeawiderangeofissuesrelatedtothedifferent dimensions of the phenomena of emergency and disaster, rangingfrom the study of the risk factors, patterns of frequency and distribution,characteristics, impacts, prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response,humanitarian aid, standards of intervention, operative research, recovery,rehabilitation, resilience and policies, strategies and actions to address thesephenomena froma risk reduction approach. In the last thirty years has beensubstantial progress in the abovementionedareas in part thanks to a betterscientificknowledgeof thesubject.Theaimof the journal is tocontribute tothis progress facilitating the dissemination of the results of research in thisfield.

This lastnumberof2016of theEmergencyandDisasterReports is a generalapproach to thedisasterprofileofChina. ThePeople’sRepublicofChina is acountrythatsuffershighlossesfromdisasters,intermsofhumanlifeaswellassocioeconomic losses. This disaster risk profile was developed in order toprovide an overview of the risks that China faces, including probability ofdifferent types of hazards; vulnerability from exposure due to geographical,topographical and socioeconomic factors; and existing policies and strategiesfordisasterriskreduction.

The riskprofilepresentedhere isbasedonhistorical informationofdisastersand previous research on vulnerability and risk factors. Due to the extensiveamountof literatureanddataonnaturaldisasters,themajorityofthisreportfocusesonthesedisasters,althoughitisrecognizedthattechnologicaldisastersareequallyimportantandrequiremoreattentioninfutureresearch.

Prof.PedroArcos,Prof.RafaelCastroEditors,EmergencyandDisasterReportsUnitforResearchinEmergencyandDisasterDepartmentofMedicine.UniversityofOviedoCampusdelCristo33006Oviedo–Spainwww.uniovi.net/uied


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Monographicissue

AnapproachtothedisasterprofileofPeople’sRepublicofChina1980-2013

Author:EmmaVanRij

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TableofContents

1 Introduction 51.1 Background&Context....................................................................................................................51.2 CountryOverview............................................................................................................................6

2 Methodology82.1 Concepts...............................................................................................................................................82.1.1 Disaster.............................................................................................................................................82.1.2 Exposure..........................................................................................................................................82.1.3 Vulnerability...................................................................................................................................8

2.2 Datacollection...................................................................................................................................83 Discussionofnaturaldisasterssince1980 93.1 Earthquakes.....................................................................................................................................103.1.1 Historicevents............................................................................................................................103.1.2 Exposureandvulnerability...................................................................................................12

3.2 Floods.................................................................................................................................................133.2.1 Historicevents............................................................................................................................133.2.2 Exposureandvulnerability...................................................................................................16

3.3 Storms.................................................................................................................................................173.3.1 Historicalevents........................................................................................................................183.3.2 Exposureandvulnerability...................................................................................................19

3.4 Landslides.........................................................................................................................................203.4.1 Historicevents............................................................................................................................203.4.2 Exposureandvulnerability...................................................................................................21

3.5 Droughts............................................................................................................................................213.5.1 Historicalevents........................................................................................................................223.5.2 Exposureandvulnerability...................................................................................................22

3.6 Epidemics..........................................................................................................................................23


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3.6.1 Historicevents............................................................................................................................233.6.2 Exposureandvulnerability...................................................................................................24

3.7 Extremetemperature..................................................................................................................243.7.1 Historicevents............................................................................................................................243.7.2 Exposureandvulnerability...................................................................................................25

3.8 Wildfires............................................................................................................................................254 Discussionoftechnologicaldisasterssince1980254.1 Industrialaccidents......................................................................................................................264.1.1 Miningaccidents........................................................................................................................274.1.2 Otherindustrialaccidents.....................................................................................................28

4.2 Transportaccidents......................................................................................................................305 Naturaldisasterriskreduction 305.1 Policies,strategiesandinstitutions.......................................................................................305.2 ProgresstowardsHyogoFrameworkforAction.............................................................325.2.1 Strategicgoals.............................................................................................................................325.2.2 Prioritiesforaction..................................................................................................................32

5.3 Implementationandresults......................................................................................................345.3.1 Thecaseofthe2008Sichuanearthquake......................................................................34

6 Discussionandconclusions387 Bibliography 41


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1 Introduction

ThePeople’sRepublicofChina(henceforthcalledChina)isacountrythatsuffershighlossesfromdisasters,intermsofhumanlifeaswellassocioeconomiclosses.This disaster risk profilewas developed in order to provide an overview of therisks that China faces, including probability of different types of hazards;vulnerabilityfromexposureduetogeographical,topographicalandsocioeconomicfactors;andexistingpoliciesandstrategiesfordisasterriskreduction.

Theriskprofilepresentedhereisbasedonhistoricalinformationofdisastersandpreviousresearchonvulnerabilityandriskfactors.Duetotheextensiveamountofliterature and data on natural disasters, the majority of this report focuses onthesedisasters, although it is recognized that technological disasters are equallyimportantandrequiremoreattentioninfutureresearch.

1.1 Background&Context

Chinaisoneofthecountriesthatsufferthemostnaturaldisasters.Naturalhazardsstrike not only with high frequency, but the country also suffers from a largediversity of hazards, including typhoons, earthquakes, floods, landslides anddroughts.Naturaldisasters inChinahaveaffectedonaveragethe livesofat least90millionpeopleannuallysincethe1980sandhavecausedlargeeconomiclosses.

The average annual economic damage caused by natural disasters is estimatedaround11billionUS$.Overall,themostfrequentdisastersarestormsandfloods,followedbyearthquakes.However, theoccurrenceofdisastersvariesgreatlyperregion.Earthquakesareresponsibleforthelargestproportionofpeoplekilledbynaturaldisasters(58.8%),butfloodsaccountforthemostpeopleaffected(64.0%).[1]

Inaddition,Chinafacesmanytechnologicaldisasters,ofwhichindustrialaccidentsarethemostcommon.[2]However,thereisalackofreliabledatawhenitcomestotechnologicaldisasters.Althoughreportscanbefoundindisasterdatabasesandin news items, these are likely to be underrepresenting the actual impact.Environmentalandsafetyhazardsarebecomingmorefrequentandareoccurringonalargerscale.

Both theChinese government and the corporations involved seem toprevent ordelay media attention to these hazards. This lack of information also makes itpossible for technological hazards to keep happening, because lessons learnedfromrecentdisastersarenotspread.[3]

Due to the lack of data, and a lack of policies for reduction of technologicaldisasters,thisreportmainlyfocusesonnaturaldisasters.Nonetheless,oneshouldbearinmindthattheimpactoftechnologicaldisastersinChinaisallbutnegligible,and if no action is being taken, the combined impact may even exceed that ofnaturaldisasters.


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Natural disasters seem to become more frequent. In recent years, earthquakeshaveoccurredmorefrequentlyandwithhighermagnitudesthanexpected.[4]Buthydro-meteorological disasters such as floods and cyclones are also becomingmore frequent. [5] In the firsthalfof2013alone,782peoplehavebeenkilled inChinaasaresultofnaturaldisastersandmorethan150millionpeoplehavebeenaffected. Themost severe disasters occurred in the southwest of the country, amajoreventbeinga7.0-magnitudeearthquake inSichuanprovince,whichkilled196people.[6]

WhilepeoplestilldieinChinabecauseofnaturaldisasters,thenumberofdeathshasclearlydeclinedoverthepastcentury.Thedeadliesteventsince1980wasan8.0-magnitudeearthquake inSichuanprovince in2008,whichcausedmore than87 000deaths. Although this is a huge number and itwas themost devastatingearthquakesince1976,thisquakedoesnotappearinthetop10deadliesteventssince1900.

In fact,with the tenthdeadliesteventcausing142000deaths, there isstillabigdifferencebetweenthatandthe2008earthquake.Moreover,thisearthquakehasbeenanexceptionallydeadlyeventinthelastthreedecades,whichisshownbythefact that the second deadliest event since 1980 was a flood that killed 3 656people.[2]

So it seems that China is on the right track when it comes to decreasing thenumber of natural disaster-relateddeaths.However, an opposite trend is visiblewhenitcomestoboththenumberofpeoplethatareaffectedbydisaster,andtheeconomicdamagedisasterscause.

Thetopteneventssince1900intermsofnumberofpeopleaffectedandeconomicdamage, all have occurred since the late 20th century. [2] This suggests thatalthough the number of disaster-related deaths is decreasing, more people arebeingaffectedbydisasterand theeconomicdamage is increasing.ThismightbeduetoChina’srecenteconomicanddemographicdevelopment.

1.2 CountryOverviewThe large variety of natural disasters that China faces, is partially due to itsgeographyanddemography.Withasurfaceareaofmorethan9.5millionkm²itisthe fourth largestcountry intheworld. Ithasacoastlineof14.500kmalongtheeast and south of the country. In the west, the terrain is mostly made up ofmountains,desertsandhighplateaus,whereasintheeastonewillfindhills,deltasandplains.Theextensiveareaalsogivesrisetoaverydiverseclimate:fromsubarcticinthenorthtotropicalinthesouth.AfactorthatcontributestoChina’svulnerabilitytonaturalhazardsis itsdemography.It isthemostpopulatedcountryintheworld,withatotalpopulationofalmost1.4billionpeople,ofwhichmorethanhalfliveinurbanareas.ThereareanumberofmultimillioncitiesinChina,ofwhichShanghaiandBeijingarethelargest,with16.5and15.5millioninhabitants,respectively.[7]


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Figure1ProvincesofChina(source:sacu.org)

Figure2Chinapopulationdensity(source:brittannica.com)


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2 Methodology

2.1 Concepts

Throughout this report a number of technical terms are used. For the mostimportant terms the following definitions from the UnitedNations InternationalStrategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) [8] and the Centre for Research onEpidemiologyofDisasters(CRED)[9]havebeenusedforreference.

2.1.1 Disaster

Adisaster is ‘a seriousdisruptionof the functioningofacommunityorasocietyinvolving widespread human, material, economic of environmental losses andimpacts,which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to copeusing its own resources’. [8] In order for an event to be included in the CREDdatabase,itmustfulfilatleastoneofthefollowingcriteria:1)tenormorepeoplereportedkilled;2)hundredormorepeoplereportedaffected;3)declarationofastateofemergency;or4)callforinternationalassistance.[9]

2.1.2 Exposure

Exposure is understood as the ‘people, property, systems or other elementspresent in hazard zones that are thereby subject to potential losses’. [8] For allnaturaldisastersgoes thathuman impact isgenerallyhigher in thoseareaswithhigh population density, including the south-western, central and easternprovinces of China. Absolute direct economic losses are especially high thoseprovinceswitharelativelystrongeconomy,suchastheeasterncoastalprovinces.However,atthesametimetheircapabilityagainstdisastersisgreater,whichleadsto a lower percentage of direct economic loss. In areas where the resistantcapabilitytonaturaldisastersisweak,therelativelossratioishigher.[10]

2.1.3 Vulnerability

Vulnerability includes ‘the characteristics and circumstances of a community,systemorassetthatmakeitsusceptibletothedamagingeffectsofahazard’.[8]

2.2 Datacollection

ThisreportisareviewofavailableliteratureanddatabasesondisastersinChina.The EM-DAT database of CRED [2] has an extensive amount of data on naturaldisastersinChina,andtoalesserextentontechnologicaldisasters.Therefore,thisdatabasewas used as a primary source for the data presented in this report. Inaddition,othersourceswereusedtosupportorcontradicttheinformationfoundin EM-DAT, such as research articles, reports from various institutions of theUnited Nations, official government documents, news articles, and situationreportsprovidedbyinternationalactorsinhumanitarianaction.Thesearticlesanddocumentswereobtainedthroughsearchesindifferentsearchengines,includingPubMed,ScienceDirect,DirectoryofOpenAccessJournals,Reliefweb,GoogleandGoogleScholar.


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3 Discussionofnaturaldisasterssince1980

Asmentionedbefore,China facesa largevarietyofnaturalhazards.This sectionwilldiscusstherisksfortheonesthataremostcommonandthathavethegreatestimpact. In the years 1980 to 2013, themost frequent natural hazards reportedwerestorms,whichoccurred224times.Stormswerefollowedbyfloods,with218events, and earthquakes occurred 117 times. Other hazards that have beenreported,thoughtoalesserextent, includemassmovements(bothwetanddry),droughts,extremetemperature,epidemicsandwildfires.[2]

Earthquakesaccountforthelargestnumberofpeoplekilled,withatotalof92829deaths,but floodsandstormshavealso led toa largenumberofdeaths,39804and12186,respectively.However,whenitcomestothenumberofpeopleaffectedbydisasters,floodshavebyfarthegreatestimpact,affectingmorethan1.7billionpeoplein30years.Thisistwotimesthenumberofpeopleaffectedbyearthquakesandstormstogetherinthatsameperiodoftime.[2]

Figure3Percentageofreportednaturaldisaster-relateddeathsinChina1980-2010[1]

Figure4PercentageofpeopleaffectedbynaturaldisasterinChina1980-2010[1]


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3.1 Earthquakes

An earthquake is the displacement and shaking of the ground due to seismicwaves,usuallycausedbytheruptureofageologicfaultwhentwotectonicplatessuddenly move in a different direction. An earthquake’s intensity is generallymeasuredaccordingtotwoscales.ThefirstistheRichterscale,whichreportsthemagnitudeofearthquakesbymeasuringseismicwavesonalogarithmicscaleof0-8.0,where8.0 is themaximumandanearthquakeof thismagnitudecausestotaldestruction.Anyearthquakeofamagnitudeof6.0ormoreonthisscalecancauseseveredamageinpopulatedareas.ThesecondwayofreportingtheseverityofanearthquakeistheMercalliIntensityScale.Thisissomewhatmoresubjectiveasitreliesontheperceptionofthepeoplethatexperiencedtheearthquake,andonthedamage ithascaused.Thisscale is fromI-XII,whereXIIcausestotaldestruction.[11]Since1980,atotalof117earthquakeshaveoccurredinChina,withdifferentmagnitudesandinawidevarietyoflocations.[2]

3.1.1 Historicevents

According to the China Earthquake Network Centre, China is currentlyexperiencingmoreearthquakesthanhavebeenreportedinhistory.Inthefirsthalfof2013theChineseMinistryofCivilAffairshadalreadyreported21quakesofamagnitudemorethan5.0,which ismuchmorethanexpected. [4]So far in2013,China has experienced 2 severe earthquakes, with a magnitude of >6.0. Theyoccurred in south-west and north-west China: in Sichuan and Gansu province,respectively.[12]

The earthquake in Sichuan province occurred onApril 20thwith amagnitude of7.0,andinthefollowingdays4000aftershockshavebeenreported,ofwhich100withamagnitudeofmorethan3.A totalof196peoplehavebeenkilled,14785people were injured, and 237 665 were displaced. The earthquake severelydamaged 510 000 houses, and another 193 000 houses collapsed. The quakeaffecteda totalof2.1millionpeople.Roadshadbeenblockedandelectricityandwatersupplyinterrupted.Withinlessthan20minutesanearthquake-reliefcentrehadbeenestablishedbytheChengdumilitaryregion,andtheChinesegovernmentissuedaclass1disasterresponse.

NGOrescue forceswerealso involved.A totalof18000 troopsweresent to theaffectedregionforrescue.[12,13,14]OnJuly22nd,a6.6earthquakehitthenorth-westofGansuprovince.94peoplewerereporteddead,628injuredand225000people needed to be relocated. The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the NationalCommittee for Disaster Reduction launched an emergency response and sentteamstotheaffectedareas.[12,15]

According to the EM-DAT international disaster database by CRED [2], 117earthquakeshavebeenreportedsince1980,ofwhich68(or58%)haveresultedinhumancasualties.Thereisaclearincreaseinthenumberofquakesreported,with17 occurring from1980-1989, 31 between1990 and 1999, 46 from2000-2009,and between 2010 and 2013 the number has already totalled 23.However, this


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may also reflect improvement in the reporting of earthquakes, rather than anactualincreaseinthenumbers.

There isnocleartrendinthenumberofquakesthat leadtothedeathofpeople,but there seems so be a decrease in the number of people that are killed inearthquakes. Between 1980 and 1989, the average number of deaths perearthquakewas74.Between1990and1999, thisnumberhaddecreasedtoonly21.

Theperiod2000-2009 gives a different picture,with an averageof 1912peoplekilled per earthquake. However, this high number is mainly the result of oneparticular earthquake: the 2008 quake in Wenchuan county, Sichuan province,whichisamongthetenmostdevastatingearthquakessince1900,intermsofthenumberofpeoplethatwerekilledandthenumberofpeopleaffected,aswellasineconomicdamage.Takingthisquakeoutoftheequation,results inanaverageof10peoplekilledpereventbetween2000and2009.[2]

China’s earthquakes have an evident spatial distribution. Since 1980, by far themajorityofearthquakeshaveoccurredinthewestandsouth-westofthecountry,especially in three provinces: Xinjiang, Yunnan and Sichuan province. Otherprovinces thathavebeenstruckbyearthquakesmultiple times,areGansu, InnerMongoliaandQinghai in thenorth,Tibet in thewest,andanumberofprovincesalongtheeasterncoast,amongothersShandong,HebeiandLiaoning.

Themostsevereearthquakes, in termsofpeopleaffectedorkilledandeconomiclosses,tendtooccurinthethreeprovincesthatarealsomostfrequentlyhit.Themost devastating earthquake since 1980 is the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake inSichuanprovince,whichwillbediscussedinmoredetaillater.AnotherespeciallydeadlyeventoccurredinApril2010inQinghaiprovince,when2968peoplewerekilled. This earthquake had amagnitude of 6.9. More than 12 000 people wereinjured,andithasleftthousandsofpeoplehomelessduetothecollapseofmostlywood-earth houses. This event has affected 112 000 people, and the economicdamagewasestimatedat500millionUS$. Inaddition, theregionwasdifficult toreachforresponseteams,sinceitliesatanaltitudeof37000metersandmostofthefewroadsleadingtotheaffectedvillageshadcollapsed.[16,17]

Figure5Distributionofearthquakesandmagnitudes1949-2000[19]


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TheearthquakesthataffectthelargestnumberofpeoplehavemainlyhappenedinSichuan and Yunnan province, which have experienced eight earthquakes thataffectedmorethanamillionpeopleeach,someevenseveralmillion.AmajoreventalsooccurredinShanxiprovince inNovember1999.Althoughnoonewaskilled,the earthquake affectedmore than 3 million people. Also in terms of economicdamageSichuan,YunnanandXinjiangprovincewere in the leadduring thepastdecades.Sichuanhassufferedthemostdamagerecently,withanestimated6.8and85billionUS$ loss in theearthquakesofApril2013andMay2008, respectively.[2]

3.1.2 Exposureandvulnerability

As has been shown above, China is a country that facesmany earthquakes. It islocatedontheEurasiantectonicplate,whichmeetsthePhilippineplatealongtheeastern coast and Taiwan. The Indian plate is involved in the Himalayas. Thecollision of the Indian plate into the Asian plate is primarily responsible for theseismicactivity inChina.As the Indianplatemoves towards thenorth, itpushestheTibetanplateauoutofitsway,towardstheeast,whichiscausingdeformationinthecrustoftherestoftheChineseterritory.Itisthisdeformationthatleadstothemany earthquakes in the west and south-west of China, including the great2008earthquakeinSichuanprovince.[18]

Most provinces have been exposed to earthquakes, and are therefore at risk forfuture quakes. However, the magnitude and frequency show a spatial pattern.Earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 6.0 have mainly concentrated insouth-westChina,butalsooccurredmorewidespreadacrosscentralandwesternregions.However,occasionallylargeearthquakeshavehitprovincesinthenorth-east.

The great majority of quakes of lower magnitude also occurred in the south-westernandwesternprovinces(figure3).[19,20]Whenlookingatthecountryasa whole, according to the China Earthquake Network Centre, China experiencesaround20earthquakeswithamagnitudebetween5.0and5.9annuallyand3to4between 6.0 and 6.9. Earthquakes with a magnitude more than 7.0 occur onaverageeverytwoorthreeyears.[4]

Important factors in China’s vulnerability to earthquakes are its buildings andinfrastructure. Especially in urban areas, where most residential buildings aremade fromconcreteandbrick, themaindangercomes fromcollapsingbuildingsand falling debris. This threat is increased by the fact that many buildings inChinesecitiesarehigh-rise.However,sincethe1990scodesforconstructionandplanninghavebeenspecified,leadingtohigherlevelsofearthquake-resistanceandconstructionstandards.

Sincemost buildings are fireproof, the spreading of fire does not usually pose athreatincaseofearthquakes.[21]Damagetoandcollapseofbuildingsaremainly


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responsible for the lossof livesand injuries, itoften leavespeoplehomelessandcausesdirecteconomicloss.Indirecteconomiclossmostlycomesfromindustriesthatareforcedtostoptheiroperationsduetophysicaldamage.Damagetopublicinfrastructure often leads to disruptions in power and water supply,telecommunications and blocked roads. For big cities, the amount of damageusually decreases as the distance from the epicentre increases. However, forsmaller towns and villages this correlation is not as pronounced, due to lowerconstructionqualityandthereforelowerseismicresistance.Thedangerposedbyearthquakescanbelimitedbybuildingstructuresthatcanwithstandearthquakesandwillretainsufficientstructuralintegritytoavoidcollapse.[22]

PotentialimpactsonpublichealthinChinaaresimilartothoseinothercountries.Morbiditycomesmainlyfrominjuriesthatareadirectresultofstructuraldamageduetotheearthquake.Fracturesarethemostcommoninjury,andmanyoccurintheextremities.[23]

Psychosocial damage is another important effect, but the extent of damage willpartially depend on coping strategies such as religion. An indirect threat toepidemics comes from possible disruption of food and water security andenvironmentalsafety.Thisthreatisincreasedbythedisplacementofpopulationsasaresultofdamagetoresidentialbuildings.InChina,measuresgenerallyareinplacetopreventthisfromhappening.[24]

3.2 Floods

Althoughthereareseveraltypesoffloods,thegreatmajorityoffloodsoccurringinChina can be classified as general floods: ‘gradually rising inland flood (rivers,lakes,groundwater)duetohightotaldepthofrainfallorsnowmelt.Ageneralfloodiscausedwhenabodyofwater(river,lake)overflowsitsnormalconfinesduetorisingwaterlevels.

The termgeneral flood additionally comprises the accumulationofwater on thesurfaceduetolong-lastingrainfall(waterlogging)andtheriseofthegroundwatertableabovesurface.Furthermore,inundationbymeltingsnowandice,backwatereffects,andspecialcausessuchastheoutburstofaglaciallakeorthebreachingofadamaresubsumedunderthetermgeneralflood.

General floods can be expected at certain locations (e.g. along rivers) with asignificantlyhigherprobabilitythanothers’.[25]Thesefloodsaregenerallyoflongduration, they can last up to severalweeks or evenmonths if rainfall continues.AnothertypeoffloodsthatoccursinChina,althoughtheyarelessfrequent,isflashfloods. These are sudden and of short duration, typically associated withthunderstorms.Ona slope, thewatermovesrapidlyandhasahighpotential fordestruction.Onflatterrain,thewatercannotrunofforinfiltratethegroundasfastasitfalls.[25]


Floods occur most frequently in South- and East-China. Since 1980, 218 floodshave been reported,most of them occurring in provinces in eastern and south-


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easternChina,althoughvirtuallyallprovinceshaveexperiencedatleastonefloodduringthepastthreedecades.Together, thesefloodshavecausedalmost42000deaths,andhaveaffectedatotalofmorethan1.9billionpeople,ofwhichcloseto40millionhavebeenrenderedhomeless,makingfloodsresponsibleforbyfarthelargest share of people affected by natural disasters. In addition, floods havecaused a total damage of almost 200 billion US$ in China since 1980, whichcorrespondsto48%ofthetotaleconomicdamagecausedbynaturaldisasters.[2]

Table1Top10naturaldisastersinChinasince1900sortedbynumberofpeopleaffected[2]

Disaster Date NoTotalAffected

Flood 1-7-1998 238973000Flood 1-6-1991 210232227Flood 30-6-1996 154634000Flood 23-6-2003 150146000Flood 29-5-2010 134000000Flood 15-5-1995 114470249Flood 15-6-2007 105004000Flood 23-6-1999 101024000Flood 14-7-1989 100010000Storm 14-3-2002 100000000

Althoughfloodsarenotresponsibleforthelargestshareofdeathsduetonaturalhazards inChina (the 42000deaths correspond to26%of all natural disaster-relateddeaths,whereasearthquakesareresponsiblefor58%),manyfloodshavecausedanexceptionallyhighnumberofcasualties,resultinginanaveragenumberofdeathspereventthat ismuchhigherthanit is forearthquakes.Between1980and1989, an averageof 373peoplediedper flood.Thiswasmainlydue to twoperiods of heavy flooding. In June 1980, three provinces in central and easternChinawereseverelyaffectedbyfloods.

InSichuan,HubeiandAnhuiprovincesthedeathtollroseto6000.InJuly1989,theYangtzeRiver in Sichuanprovincewas floodeddue to torrential rain for severaldays.Themaximumrainfall reportedwas500mm.Provincesdownstreamof theriverwerealso affected.Additionally, theheavy rains led to landslides,which inturnincreasedthenumberofcasualtiesandtheamountofdamage.Thesefloodsled to a total of 2000deaths,more than10000people injured, and100millionpeopleaffected, spreadoutoverat least sixprovinces in theeastof thecountry.[2,26]

In the period between 1990 and 1999, the average number of people killed perfloodstill remainedhighat390. In thisdecade,anumberofeventscausedmorethan 1 000 deaths, but two cases were especially deadly. In July 1996, easternChinawasagainhitbyprolongedandheavyrain.Manyriversoverflowed.Hubei,


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HunanandGuangxiprovincewerethemostseverelyhit.2.7millionhouseswerecompletelydestroyed,morethan14millionwereseverelydamaged,andalmost9millionhectaresofcropareawereaffected.

Atotalof155millionpeoplewereaffectedbythesefloods,ofwhichmorethan4millionwereevacuatedinthethreemostseriouslyaffectedprovinces.[2,27]Onlytwo years later, during the summerof 1998, China experiencedoneof itsworstfloods.3656peopledied,makingitoneofthedeadliestdisasterssince1980.Withatotaleconomicdamageof30billionUS$,itisoneofthemostcostlydisastersofChina, and even the number one in terms of people affected, which totalled toalmost239millionpeople.

During that summer heavy rain fell in several regions of China. This, incombination with human factors such as deforestation of the river basin, againcausedtheYangtzerivertoflood,affectingHubei,HunanandJiangxiprovincesinthesouth-east.Otherfactorsthatcontributedtothemagnitudeofthisdisasterarethe inhabitationofvulnerable floodplainsandneglectof thedykes.Water levelsroseupto6m,submergingmorethanonemillionhectaresofcropsandhundredsof thousands of houses for more than two months. In the same period, north-easternprovinceswerealsohitbyextremerainfall.

Intotal,thefloodsleft14millionpeoplehomeless,anddamaged25millionacresofcrops.Althoughexternalassistancewasneededduetotheextentofthedisaster,the Chinese government handled the situation in a very efficient way. Basictemporalshelterwasprovided,allaccessiblepeoplereceivedbasicfooditemsandmedical care, temporary schools had been set up and started on the 1st ofSeptember, and no large scale disease outbreaks occurred in the camps.[2,28,29,30]

Inthebeginningof the21stcentury,deathsbyfloodsseemtobedecreasing.Theeventthatcausedthehighestnumberofdeaths,werethefloodsinJune2002,oncemoreaffectingtheYangtzeriverandtheprovincesinthesouthandeastofChinaand killing almost 800 people. This time more than 80 million people wereaffected.Some600000housesweredestroyed,1.5millionpeopleweredisplacedandmillionsofhectaresoffarmlandweredemolished.

Theaffectedareasagainreceivedassistancefromtheinternationalcommunitytocope with the situation. [2,31] In the summer of 2007, 24 of China’s provincesexperiencedfloodsduetoheavyrainfall.Themostseverelyhitareaswereinthesouthandincludedminoritiesandimpoverishedcommunities,especiallyfarmers,fromthemountains inGuizhouprovince,alongtheHuairiver inAnhuiprovince,andalongtheYangtzeriverinSichuan,ChongqingandHubeiprovinces.

Nearly 5 million people were evacuated. In many areas these floods weredescribedastheworstinmorethanacentury,andinsomecasesevenastheworstin history. [32] The general floods were accompanied by landslides and flashfloods, and a heat wave made the situation even worse for those living intemporary shelters. Overall,more than 500 peoplewere killed, and numbers ofpeople affected vary between more than 100 million by CRED and up to 200


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millionaccordingtoothersources.[2,33]Thedamagewasestimatedat4.4billionUS$.[2]

Of the top10naturaldisasters in termsof total affectedpeople thatoccurred inChina since 1900, 9 are floods, and all of them occurred after 1980. With fewexceptions, themostdeadly floodsmentionedherearealsoamong the10 floodsthataffectedthelargestnumbersofpeople.AllofthemoccurredinsouthernandeasternChina,theprovincesalongtheYangtzeRiverbeingthemostoftenaffected.[2]

Thesamegoes for themostcostly floods,except foroneevent,which is the fifthmosteconomicallydamagingfloodChinahasseensince1980.InJuly2012manyparts of China were affected by flooding due to heavy rain, including parts ofBeijing,whichexperiencedtheheaviestrainfallinsixtyyears.Animportantfactorin Beijing’s floods was the outdated sewer and drainage system, of which thedevelopment has not been keeping up with the rapid urban development. TheeconomicdamageacrossChinatotalled8billionUS$inthatmonth.[2,34]


Geographically,floodsoccurmostinChina’seasternandsouthernprovinces.Mostaffected are especially the provinces along the Yangtze River. Floods are oftenseasonal,astheycoincidewiththerainyseason,andwithoccurrenceoftyphoonsin thecoastalprovinces. Increasedexposure to floods is related tohigh intensitylanduse.

Large urban areas are exposed to floods, as they can be located in proximity tolarge rivers or lakes that are at risk of flooding in case of heavy rain, aswell asagriculturalareas,sincemostofthearablelandislocatedinfloodplains.Althoughloss of livesdue to flooding seems tobedecreasing,manypeople still lose theirhousesorareaffected inanotherway. Ingeneral, residentialbuildingsaremorevulnerable to floods than commercial and industrial buildings. These concreteconstructions are more resistant to water damage than residential wood-framebuildings.[35]

Mortalityduetofloodismostlyattributedtodrowningortrauma,suchasinjuriesfromobjectsinflowingwater.Injuriesmayalsooccurwhenpeopletrytoremovethemselves,othersorpossessionsfromdanger,orwhentheyreturntotheaffectedbuildingstocleanup.Faecal-oraldiseasescanbeanindirecteffectoffloods,duetodisruptioninsafewaterandsanitationprovisions.

Vector-bornediseasesmaydecrease initially, becausebreeding sites arewashedaway. However, in situationswhere stagnantwater remains due to for exampleblockageinthedrainingsystem,theremaybeanincreaseintransmission.Floodscanalsohaveanimpactonthementalhealthoftheaffectedpopulation.Especiallycommonmentaldisorderssuchasdepressionandanxietytendtoincrease,aswellaspost-traumaticstressdisorder.OnestudyevenshowsthatoneofChina’sareasmostpronetofloodinghasanincreasedsuiciderate,althoughthereisnoevidenceforadirectrelationshipbetweensuicideandflooding.[36]


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China’sagricultureisoftenaffectedbyfloods,asmuchofthearablelandislocatedin floodplains, resulting in a large number of affected people, but also in directeconomiclosses.However,althoughcropscanbelostlocallyduetofloods,overallfloodsusuallycauserelativelyminorcroplosses,becausetheamountofcroplandthat benefits from the additional rain is often larger than the amount that isdamaged. This goes especially for crops like rice. Other types of crops, such ascotton,aremorevulnerabletoexcessiverainandsuffergreaterlosses.[37]

China’s flood loss potential is increased by its industries at risk. 52% of itsindustrial areas is exposed to flooding. Many of these industries are driven byforeign direct investment, which is concentrated in mainly three sectors:electronics, machinery and manufacturing, and retail and wholesale. These areoccupanciesthatareveryvulnerabletowater.Themostexposedregion,thePearlRiverdeltainthesouth-east,couldcauseinsuredlossesupto44billionUS$.[38]

Additional factors influencing the extent and intensity of the floods are human-made.Deforestationresultsinsoilerosion,asaconsequenceraincanwashoffthetopsoil,whichendsup in theriverbedandraises the levelof thewater.This inturnmakestherivermorepronetoflooding.[39]Desertificationanddroughtarealsoariskfactorforfloods,asthisdecreasestheland’sabilitytoconservewater.[40] On the other hand, dams can be constructed to control flooding indownstreamareas.TheThreeGorgesDamin theYangtzeRiver isanexample. Itwasbuiltasafloodcontrolmeasure,tryingtominimisetheimpactofdevastatingfloodsbylimitingtheamountofwaterthatflowsfurtherdownstream.Therefore,itisameasurethatdecreasesthevulnerabilityofdownstreamregions.[41]

Another aggravating factor is climate change. Although heavy rain is still morefrequentinthesouththaninthenorthofChina,thereisatrendthatthenorthisexperiencingmoreandstrongerrainstormsthanbefore.Increasingtemperaturesduetoglobalwarmingresultinmorewatervapourandheatexchange,leadingtomorefrequentprecipitation.

Althoughitisnotyetsurewhetherthereisadirectrelationshipbetweenclimateand changing weather events, China should prepare for more frequent andwidespread flooding. An important measure is to improve drainage systems,especiallyinurbanareas.ManysystemsincitiessuchasBeijingarenotcapableofwithstandingthetypeofheavyrainstormsthatmayoccurinthefuture.[42]

3.3 Storms

Storms are the most frequent natural hazard in China. 224 storms have beenreportedbyCREDsince1980,correspondingtomorethansixstormsperyearonaverage.Between1980and2013,atotalof12470peoplewerekilledinstorms,whichisalmost8%ofallnaturaldisaster-relateddeaths.Stormshavethesecondlargestimpactinnumberofpeopleaffected,afterfloods,with478millionintotal.[1,2]

Most of China’s storms can be classified as tropical cyclones, especially amongthose taking the most lives and causing the most economic damage. However,manycanalsobecalledmoregeneral localstorms,whicharecausedbyregional


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atmospheric phenomena that are typical for that area and that can come alongwithhighwinds,heavyprecipitation,thunderandlightning.

‘ tropical cyclone is a non-frontal storm system that is characterised by a lowpressure centre, spiral rain bands and strong winds. Usually it originates overtropicalorsub-tropicalwatersandrotatesclockwiseinthesouthernhemisphereandcounter-clockwiseinthenorthernhemisphere.Thesystemisfuelledbyheatreleasedwhenmoist air rises and thewater vapour it contains condenses.’ [25]SinceChinabordersthewesternPacific,itstropicalcyclonesarecalledtyphoons.

3.3.1 Historicalevents

Since1980,theEM-DATdatabasehasshownanincreaseinthenumberofstormsreported in China. Whereas only 37 storms were reported between 1980 and1989,thisnumberalmostdoubledinthefollowingdecade,when73stormswerereported.Thenumbercontinuedtorise inthefirstdecadeof the21stcentury, to85.[2]

However,asmentionedbefore,thisincreasemaynotreflectanactualincreaseinnumberofstorms,butmightbeduetoimprovedreporting.Still,somesourcessaythatthereisanincreaseinthiskindofextremeweatherevents,andthatitisduetotheongoingclimatechangeandglobalwarming.[43]Atthesametime,otherssaythatthereisnoactualincreaseinthenumberofevents,butmerelyanincreaseintheirseverity.[44]

Similartoearthquakesandfloods,Chinashowsadecreaseinthenumberofpeoplekilledinstormsovertime.From1980to1989,3231peopledied,correspondingwithanaverageof87deathsperstorm.Althoughtheabsolutenumberofstorm-relateddeathsincreasedinthe‘90s,thenumberofreportedeventsalsoincreased,resultinginadecreaseintheaveragenumberofdeathsperstormto77.

Intheearly21stcentury,thenumberofdeathsdroppedevenfurther,to3180intotaland37onaverageperevent.Ontheotherhand,ashasbeendemonstratedfor the previously discussed natural hazards, the number of people that areaffected by storms has increased: from 1.2million on average per storm in the‘80s,to1.4millioninthe‘90s,toasmanyas3.3millionpeoplebetween2000and2009.[2]

OfthetopfivemostdeadlystormsinChina,fourweretropicalcyclones,andallofthem occurred in the eastern and south-eastern coastal provinces. In July 1994,Typhoon Fred killed 1 174 people in Zheijian, Jiangsu and Fujian province, onChina’seastcoast.Thehardesthitwas thecityofWenzhou inZheijianprovince,where 1000 people died and 2million otherswere stranded due to floods. Thestormwassaidtobetheregion’sworstin160years.

Houses,otherbuildings,roadsandpowerlinesweredamaged,andmanyfactorieswereclosed.Thisledtoaneconomicdamageofmorethan1billionUS$.[2,45,46]In July 2006, typhoon Bilis reached six of China’s south-eastern provinces. Thestormlastedforseveraldaysandleft820peopledeadand29millionaffected.


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Theheavyrains triggered floodsand landslides,whichdestroyedmore than200000housesandseverelydamagedanother287000.Almost3millionpeoplewereevacuated. The total economic damagewas estimated at 3.3 billionUS$,makingBilisthemostcostlystorminChinasince1980.[2,47]

China’sstormsaffectthemostpeopleworldwide.Inthetoptenstormsthathaveaffectedthemostpeoplearoundtheworld,eightoccurred inChina.Remarkably,the storm thataffected thehighestnumberofpeople inChina, and in theworld,happened in the north of the country, in March 2002. This was not the typicalsevere rain orwind storm, but a sand storm coming from theMongolian desertplainsinnorth-westChinaandInnerMongolia.

DustorsandstormsareaseasonaleventinnorthernChina,buttheproblemhasbeengrowingworseduetodeforestationandincreaseddroughtinthenorth.Thisstormaffectedmorethan100millionpeopleacrosseightprovinces,including285000hectaresofarableland.[2,48,49]However,althoughthisstormislistedastheworstintheworldsince1980,itdidnotleadtoanydeaths,andnoestimationhasbeen made of the economic damage that resulted, which raises the questionwhethernumberofpeople affected in itself is a sufficientmeasure to reflect theimpactofadisaster.

A secondnon-typical stormaffected30millionpeople in south-westChina. Thishail storm in April 1989 left 196 000 houses collapsed and 1.74million housesdamaged.157peoplediedand1.19millionhectaresof cropswereeither lostordamaged. The total economic damage was estimated at 400million US$. [2,50]Mostotherstorms thataffectedseveralmillionsofpeoplewere typhoonshittingtheeastandsouth-eastofChina,includingthepreviouslydescribedBilis,whichisthenumberthreeonthelistwithatotalof29millionpeopleaffected.Moststormsthat led to big economic losses are typhoons occurring in east and south-eastChina.[2]


Ashasbeendiscussedforfloods,globalclimatechangeisinfluencingthenumberandseverityofstormsthatoccurinChina.Higheroceantemperaturescanleadtostronger typhoons, but colder temperatures in winter can also result in moreblizzards, and increased drought and desertification leads tomore frequent andmoreseveresandstorms.Asaresult,moreareasandthus largerpopulationsarebeingexposedtostorms.

China’s high population density in the east and the increasing urbanization arecontributing to the vulnerability to storms. For a variety of reasons, people aremovingtothecities inthecoastalprovincesandarebeingexposedtoadifferentset of environmental hazards, including typhoons. The impact of typhoons onhouseholds ismost evident in terms of property damage.Houses are frequentlydamaged,aswellasvehicles.Inaddition,crops,livestockandpoultrysufferfromtyphoonsandotherstorms,beingwipedawaybystrongwindsorfloodwater.

Lossoflivesduetostormsisdecreasing,whichismainlyduetotheexperienceoftheaffectedpopulations,sincemanyareasareaffectedonayearlybasis,butalso


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duetoevacuationpracticesafterweatherwarnings.Householdsonthecoastaremore vulnerable, because typhoons gradually lose their strength once theyhavehit the land.Those living inmountainous areasmay receivewarnings later thanthose in plains, and it might take them more time to move to safer places. Ingeneral, householdswith higher income suffer the highest losses, because thosewithmorepossessionsrequiremoretimetobringthemtosafety.[51]

To mitigate the effects of storms, China has a four-tier colour coded weatherwarning system, managed by the National Commission for Disaster Reduction.Warnings may lead to evacuation of people from threatened areas and helpingboats back to port. Since last year, this systemhasbeen further improved in 17provinces and now includes the sending of text messages from meteorologicalauthoritiestoresidentsincaseofaredororangewarning,thetwohighestgrades.[52,53]

3.4 Landslides

A landslide can be defined as ‘themovement of amass of rock, debris or earthdownaslope’.[25]Thetermincludesanumberofevents,suchasrockfalls,slides,ordebrisflows(mudslides).Landslidesareoftenasecondarydisastertoanother,primary, event. Events that can lead to a landslide are for example earthquakes,heavy rain, floods and volcanic eruption. Other factors can contribute to theseverityofthelandslide,includinghumanactionsthatdisturborchangetheslope,suchasconstructionwork,logging,orbuildingofdams.[54]


Since1980,CREDhasreported65landslidesinChina,addinguptoanaverageof1.9 landslides per year. This makes it the 4th disaster in China in terms offrequency. [1,2] Although landslides do not affect as many people as otherdisasters,theystillaccountfor3%ofallpeoplekilledbydisasterssince1980,andthey affect on average around 43 000 people per event. One landslides thatoccurredin2010inGansuprovince,closetotheborderwithSichuanprovince,isevenamongthe top10deadliestdisasters inChina,as itkilled1765people. [1]Thislandslidewastriggeredbytorrentialrain.Landslidespulledrocksanddebrisintoariver,creatingatemporaldam.This ledtothebuildingupofwater,whichresultedina3kmwidelake.

Thislakeoverflowed,andwater,mudanddebrisslidtowardsvillagesdownstreamoftheriver.45000peopleneededtobeevacuatedformthearea,asmanyhousesand other buildingswere completely destroyed or severely damaged due to themudslide.[55]Accordingtoexpertstherewereother,indirectfactorscontributingtotheseverityofthisevent.Intheareawherethelandslideoccurred,therockissoft and easily broken, making it more prone to collapse and landslides. Inaddition, the ground was still vulnerable as an effect of the 2008 Wenchuanearthquake,whichbadlydamagedthisregion.

Rocks in the mountains had become loose and could easily be broken, and notenough timehadpassed for them to restore entirely. Lastly, the year before thelandslide, the region had experienced extensive drought, which had led to


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disintegrationofpartsofthemountain,makingitmoresusceptibletolandslidesasaresultofrain. [56]Totaleconomic lossesduetothis landslideaddedupto759millionUS$.[2]

Landslides have affected mainly the southern provinces, particularly Yunnan,Sichuan, Guizhou and Chongqing. However, landslides have occurred all overChina. The most extensive landslide in China affected 2.1 million people. Thishappened between the 30th of May and the 3rd of June 2010, in GuangxiAutonomousRegion.Thisslidetoowasduetoheavyrainsandflooding.

Theprecedingdaysof torrentialrainhad ledto theevacuationofalmost80000inhabitants, which potentially limited the death toll of this disaster to only 52.However,accompanyingfloodsdestroyedmorethan117000hectaresofcroplandand4226houses,andcausedatotallossof102.5millionUS$.[2,57]


Landslides occur in all mountainous areas of China, but the largest impact issuffered by provinces in the south-west. South-western, southern and north-westernmountainousregionshavethesteepestandmostruggedslopes,andarethereforemost prone to landslides. Landslidesmost frequently occurduring therainy season, between May and September, showing that heavy rainfall is animportant triggering factor. [58,59] As previously described, earthquakes alsooftentriggerlandslides,astheyincreasetheinstabilityofthesoil.

Settlementsclosetoslopesthatareatriskoflandslidesareespeciallyvulnerable.The potential damage increases in proximity of rivers, because landslides cancreate temporarydams, causing lakes that risk flooding, evenmore sowhen thelandslideistriggeredbyheavyrain.[60]

In addition, a number of human factors contribute to the vulnerability of acommunity to landslides. Deforestation and construction work along slopesincreasethesoilinstabilitythrougherosion.Undergroundminingcanalsoresultinslope instability and consequent landslides due to collapse of the mine. Theconstruction of hydropower stations can indirectly lead to landslides, due tosurfaceexcavation.[61]

3.5 Droughts

At firstglance,droughtsdonotseemtobeoneof thedisasters thathavea largeimpactonChina.Since1980,CREDhasreported30occurrencesofdrought,a lotlessthanfloods,storms,earthquakesormassmovements.Andonlythreeofthesehaveledtodeaths,in1988,1991and2006.However,intotalaffectingalmost460millionpeople and causing36billionUS$ in economic damage, droughts cannotsimplybedismissed.[2]

A drought can be defined as ‘an extended period of time characterised by adeficiencyinaregion’swatersupplythatistheresultofconstantlybelowaverageprecipitation.Adroughtcanleadtolosses[in]agriculture,affectinlandnavigationandhydropowerplants,andcausealackofdrinkingwaterandfamine’.[25]


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3.5.1 Historicalevents

Most of the droughts reported in CRED’s database, occurred in the southern,central and eastern provinces. The drought that led to the highest number ofdeathswas in the south-east, between February and August 1991. 2000 peoplediedand5millionwereaffected.ItisreportedinCRED’sdatabaseasworld’smostdeadlydroughtinthepastthirtyyears.[2]However,sincethedatabasestilllacksdataonothercountries thatareaffectedbydrought, itmightnotbeanaccuraterepresentation.

China’s secondmost deadly droughtwas in 1988, affecting several provinces inthe east of the country. Continuous lack of precipitation resulted inwidespreadagricultural losses. Some said that one fifth of the arable landwas damaged bydrought,and inoneof thehardesthitprovincesevenuptohalf. [62]Theseveredroughtswere combinedwith high temperatures of close to 40 degrees Celsius,leaving people short of drinking water, and the high temperatures killed manypeople,especiallyelderly.[63]Thedroughtsof1988causeddamageof942millionUS$,affected49millionpeople,andcostthelifeof1400.[2]

Persistent droughts in 1994 have caused the greatest economic damage: 13.8billionUS$.[2]Themost important impactofthesedroughtswasonagriculturalproduction.AlthoughdroughtsalsooccurredinthenorthofChina,themiddlepartwasmostseverelyhit.Inthisregion,precipitationwas40-50%lessthannormal,in some areas even more. Due to insufficient water storage, not only the cropproductionof1994,butalsothatof1995wasaffected.[64]


Justliketheotherextremeweathereventsthathavebeendiscussedhere,droughtsarebecomingmorefrequentandmoresevereduetoclimatechange.China’slargeagriculturalsectorsuffersbiglossesfromdroughtsandcouldthreatenthenationalfoodsecurity,anddroughtisthusofmajorconcerntothecountry.

The least vulnerable provinces are those along the south-east coast, as they areabundantinwaterresourcesandhaveahighlevelofeconomicdevelopment.Theprovincesmostvulnerabletoagriculturaldroughtarethoseinsouth-west,centraland north-east China. This is due to large amounts of total crop planting areas,relativelylittlerainfallandlowlevelsofeconomicdevelopment.

Agricultural vulnerability also depends on the ability to adapt to local naturalconditions.Forexample,provincesinthewestandnorthhavealargeproportionof lowwaterconsumptioncrops,becauseof the low levelofprecipitation in thisregion.Ontheotherhand,socioeconomicdevelopmentcancontributetoaregion’sresilienceby improvingwatermanagementand increasingwaterconservancyorefficientirrigationpractices.[65]

Humanfactorscanalsoinduceoraggravatedrought.DiscussionshavetakenplaceontheeffectsoftheThreeGorgesDamintheYangtzeriver,whichwasconstructedforhydropowerpurposesandtodecreasefloodingindownstreamareas.However,in2011whenChina faceda lackof rainfall, thedamwasdeprivingdownstream


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areas of water, by storing it for hydropower needs. This resulted in the all butdryingupofChina’stwolargestfreshwaterlakes,dyingoffishstock,andshippingontheYangtzeriverhadtobesuspended,whichhadasignificantimpactsinceitisChina’s most important water transportation route. Eventually water had to bereleasedfromthedaminordertorelievethedownstreamareas.[66]

Inaddition,deforestationisexposingregionstodroughtthathistoricallyhavenothadsuchproblems.Anexample isYunnanprovince,whichgenerallyhasa lotofprecipitation during the rainy season, although distribution is uneven. Theinequalityinamountofrainfallusedtobecompensatedbywatermanagementandwater conservation in natural forests (through absorption, keeping the groundmoist,andtrappingwatervapour).However,inrecentyears,naturalforestshavebeenreplacedbycommercialforeststhatdonothavethesamecapacity.Thishasresultedinwaterloggingintherainyseason,anddroughtinthedryseason.[67]

3.6 Epidemics

Although China has faced a number of devastating epidemics in the early 20thcentury, few epidemics have occurred in China since 1980. CRED defines anepidemicas ‘anunusual increase in thenumberofcasesofan infectiousdisease,whichalreadyexists intheregionorpopulationconcerned;ortheappearanceofaninfectionpreviouslyabsentfromaregion’.[25]


A cholera outbreak in July 1991 killed 1 074 people, and is therefore themostdeadly epidemic China has seen since 1980. This outbreak affected Anhui andJiangsu provinces in the east, and Sichuan in the south-west of the country.Although not much additional information is available, it is possible that thisoutbreak was a result of floods. The affected provinces experienced severefloodingduringJuneandJulyofthatyear.[2]

Another interesting outbreak was that of severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS). The first cases were reported in Guangdong province, in the south ofChina, in November 2002, although at the time they had not been correctlydiagnosed.China’sinitialfailuretorespondtotheoutbreakwasmostlyduetolackof communication. When an investigation report on the unknown disease wascompleted by the end of January 2003, itwasmarked top secret, and thereforeonly available to top provincial health officers. In the meantime, the publicremaineduninformedinordertomaintainsocialstability.

Duetothislackofawareness,nopreventivemeasureswereinplace,includingforhealthworkers.InGuangdong,nearlyhalfofits900SARScaseswerehealthcareworkers. Finally, in mid-February Guangdong health officials held a pressconferenceaboutthediseaseandtheWHOwasinformed.Soonafter, thediseasehad spread to Hong Kong, which turned out to be an important internationaltransit route. Even though fragmented bureaucracy and disruptions in theinformation flow contributed to the slow and inefficient initial response andpreventedinternationalauthoritiestopreparefortheoutbreak,oncetheChinesegovernment had recognised SARS as a priority, effective measures were put in


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placetocontaintheoutbreak,includingnationalandlocalfundsdirectedtoSARSpreventionandcontrol.InAugust2004theepidemichadcometoanend.[68,69]SARSaffectedatotalof4978peopleinChina,andkilled349.[2]


Outbreaks of infectious diseases are generally associated with a lack of goodsanitary and hygiene practices or the use of contaminated water. The fact thatChinahasnotexperiencedmany large-scaleoutbreaksofcommunicablediseasesin thepast fewdecades reflects the increasedaccess to improvedsanitationandwatersources. Inaddition,epidemicpreventionisalwaysseenasapriorityafterdisruptionsinthesystemsduetoforexamplesearthquakes,inordertopreventasecondaryhealthdisaster.Preventivemeasuresincludetheprovisionofsafewaterandrestorationofgoodsanitation.[24,70]

InthecaseofSARS,thelackofinformationmadethepopulationmorevulnerable.As thiswas anewdisease, thepeoplewerenot able toprotect themselves frominfectionandthereforealargerpopulationwasexposedtothevirus.

3.7 Extremetemperature

Althoughthetermextremetemperatureisnotnecessarilyassociatedwithdisaster,ithascausedquitesomeeconomicdamage inChinaandhasaffectedthe livesofnumerouspeople.ExtremetemperaturemanifestsitselfinChinainthreetypesofnaturalhazards. ‘Acoldwavecanbebothaprolongedperiodofexcessivelycoldweatherandthesuddeninvasionofverycoldairoveralargearea.Alongwithfrostitcancausedamagetoagriculture,infrastructure,[and]property’.[25]

Extremewinter conditionsalsooccur inChina, andcanbedescribedas ‘damagecaused by snow and ice. Winter damage refers to damage to buildings,infrastructure, traffic (esp.navigation) inflictedbysnowand ice in formof snowpressure, freezing rain, frozenwaterwaysetc.’ [25]On theotherhand, thereareheatwaves,or ‘prolongedperiod[s]ofexcessivelyhotandsometimesalsohumidweather relative to normal climate patterns of a certain region’. [25] Together,these events have affected the lives ofmore than 81million people, and causedover21billionUS$ineconomicdamageinChina.[2]


Coldwaves and extremewinter conditionsmainly affect two large geographicalareasinChina:Tibet,XinjiangandQinghaiinthewest,andprovincesinthesouth,among others Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guanxi and Jiangxi. Two major eventsoccurred recently, during the winter of 2011 and 2008. In January 2011, manyprovincesinsouth-westChinawereaffectedbyacoldwave.

Theheavysnowandicyrainmadepowerlines inoperableandmanyroadswereclosed, leavingpeople stranded in their cars.Theweatherdamagedhundredsofkilometresofwaterpipes,resultinginpeoplefacingwatershortages.Inaddition,manyhouses collapsedorwere severelydamaged.A total of 233millionpeoplewereevacuated.TheMinistryofCivilAffairssent6000tentsand130000padded


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coats and quilts to the affected areas. [71,72] According to CRED, more than 4millionpeoplewereaffectedbythecoldwave,anditcost281millionUS$.[2]In2008,theresultswereevenmoredevastating.DuringthemonthofJanuary,1.76million people were relocated due to collapsed and damaged houses. Railways,highwaysandairportswereparalyzed,leavingmanypassengerstranded.

Largeareasof cropsweredestroyedby snowand ice.Thehardesthitprovinceswere in southern China. 129 people died, for example due to snow-relatedaccidents. Intotalsome77millionpeoplewereaffectedbytheseextremewinterconditions,whichcost21billionUS$.Chinareceivedhumanitarianassistancefromseveralinternationalactors.[2,73,74]

A number of heat waves has also been reported in China. However, they haveimpacted the country to a lesser extent, with less casualties, less people beingaffectedandlesseconomicdamage.[2]


Heatwaves and coldwaves are yet other extremeweather events that China isincreasingly exposed to due to climate change. Extremely high temperatures insummerhave resulted inexcessmortality, especially among thepopulationover60yearsofage,andposesaseriousthreattoinfants.Heatincreasesmortalityandmorbidityduetocerebro-cardiovascularandrespiratorydiseases.

The burden of these diseases is already high in China. Cerebro-cardiovasculardiseasesrepresent45%ofalldeathsinChina,andtheassociatedhealthcareandlabour costs are estimated at 2.5billionUS$ every year. This burden is likely toincreaseasheatwavesbecomemore intenseandmore frequent.However,earlywarningsystemsandotherprotectivemeasurescouldreducethisburden.[75]

ColdwavescanhavelargeeconomicimpactsinChina.Cropsmaybedamagedduetothelowtemperatures,whichresultsinincreasedpricesbecauseoftheaffectedfood supplies. In addition, the increased demand for power supplymay lead tobreakdowns of power-generating systems. Since residential power supply is thepriority,industrialconsumersarethefirsttonoticetheeffectsofpowercuts.[76]

3.8 Wildfires

Wildfire, or ‘uncontrolled burning fire, […]which can cause damage to forestry,agriculture, infrastructure and buildings’,(20) are not common in China. Fewgrassland and forest fires have been reported, mainly in northern and westernChina.Mostofthedamage,humanaswellaseconomic,resultedfromoneeventinthenorth-eastin1987,whichkilled191people,affectedmorethanhalfamillion,andcausedeconomicdamageof110US$.[2]

4 Discussionoftechnologicaldisasterssince1980

Although China has long been known for the high frequency and death toll ofnaturaldisasters,muchlessinformationisavailableontheimpactoftechnologicaldisasters. [77] Even so, CREDprovides somedata on these events. According to


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their database, 865 technological disasters have been reported since 1980, ofwhichthelargemajority(57.6%)areindustrialaccidents.

The secondmost common technologicaldisasters are transport accidents,whichaccountfor28.8%,andtheremainderareclassifiedasmiscellaneousaccidents.Intotal,28092deathshavebeenreportedduetotechnologicaldisasters,thoughthisislikelytobeanunderestimation.[2]Muchhighernumberscirculateinresearchand newspapers. For example, CNN [78] reportedmore than 120 000 deaths inwork-relatedaccidentsalonebetweenJanuaryandNovember2003.AndBBC[79]mentioned130000deathsdue to industrialaccidents in2004.Thesedisparitiesshowalackofdocumentationandofficialreporting.

In China’s mining industry, figures on annual deaths in mines were consideredstate secret for a long time. Itwasnot until the late 1990s that the governmentacknowledgedayearlydeathtollof10000.Still,analystsconsideredthisnumberasanunderestimation,becausemineoperatorsandcountyofficialswerereluctanttoreportaccidentsinordertoavoidretaliationfromthegovernment,andbecausetherewasalackofadequatesurveys.[80]

However, there does seem to be consensus about the importance of industrialaccidents, not only in frequency, but also in death toll. According to the CRED’sdata,51%oftechnologicaldisaster-relateddeathsareduetoindustrialaccidents.By far the most common accidents are explosions, of which 333 events werereportedsince1980,thattogetherresultedinmorethan10000deaths.[2]

Chinaisrankedasthecountrywiththehighestfrequencyoftechnologicaldisasterresulting from explosion, fire and poisoning. In fact, the frequency of explosionsleadingtodisasteristentimesashighasforthesecondcountryintherankinglist,India.[77]

ImportanttonoteisthatthelackoflongtermtechnologicaldisasterdatabasesinChina leads to the failureof trackingandmonitoring thehuman impactof thesedisasters on the population, and to failure to protect the population from thepotentialharm.Inaddition,thescarcityofevidenceonepidemiologicalriskfactorsand interventions that may reduce the workers’ vulnerability in China leads tolimitedpublichealthpoliciestoprotectthepopulationatrisk.Moreresearchintothe health risks of different technological disasters and interacting factors couldimprovethedevelopmentofpublichealthpoliciesinthisaspect,andtheformationofmechanismstolimitorpreventtheirconsequences.[77]

4.1 Industrialaccidents

The theory that industrial growthoften coincideswith increased fatalities in theworkplace has quite some anecdotal evidence, including from the United Statesand thegoldmines inSouth-Africa.One factor that contributes to this increase isthe recruitment of unexperienced workers. However, this is not the only factorcontributingtothehighdeathratesinChina’sworkplaces.

China has become one of the largest manufacturers in the world, and had anannual industrial growth rate of 12% in the last two decades. But other than


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bringingthecountryeconomicgrowth,thisindustrializationhasalsocostagreatnumberof lives.Between1985 and2002, China reported200000work-relateddeathsandmorethan400000injuries.TheworkplacefatalityratewasmorethanthreetimesashighasintheUnitedStates,at28deathsperonemillionworkers.Besidesthefastincreaseinlabourproductivityandworkforce,whicharegenerallyseen as the main reasons for the increased exposure of Chinese workers toindustrialhazards,animportantfactoristheignoringofsafetyregulationsbylocalgovernmentofficials,employersandworkers.

Thisisduetothestrongpromotionofeconomicgrowthbythegovernmentsincethe1980s.Asenforcementofstrictsafetyregulationsmightdecreaseemploymentand can slow down growth, this promotion provided incentives to impose laxsafetyregulations.Notuntilrecentlydidthegovernmentstarttoholdlocalofficialsresponsibleforaccidentsduetotheselaxregulations.[81]

4.1.1 Miningaccidents

Chinaisboththelargestconsumerandthelargestproducerofcoal intheworld.Itsmines are also assumed to be themost deadly, reporting 80% of all miningfatalities worldwide in 2003. [81] Mining accidents are the largest subgroup ofChina’s industrial disasters and therefore pose the greatest threat to thepopulation. Shanxi province, which has the largest coal-mining industry in thecountry (representingaround25%of the totalChinesecoalproduction in1998-1999),suffersthemostaccidents.[80]

However,whenlookingatthenumberoffatalitiespermetrictonofcoalproduced,Shanxi is one of the provinces with the lowest rates. Zheijiang province on theotherhand,rankslastintermsofcoalproduction,buthasthehighestnumberoffatalitiespermetrictonofcoalproduced.Thispossiblyreflectsthefactthatlargemines in areaswith high production are operated by the government and have

020004000600080001000012000

Deathsduetoindustrialaccidents

Figure6Deathsduetoindustrialaccidentssortedbytypeofaccident[2]


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bettertechnologyandsafetymeasures,whereasinotherprovincessmallerminesare privately owned and have poor technology and a lack of adequate safety inordertokeepthecostslow.[77]Thisisinlinewithfindingsofotherresearchthatshows that accidents in small mines contribute most to the high number offatalities,ratherthanthesevereaccidentsthathappeninlargeminesbecausetheyaremuchlessfrequent.[80]

Aswasmentioned before, an important factor for the increased vulnerability insmallmines, is theunskilled labourforce.Theunderdevelopedprovincestendtobemorepronetodisaster,becauseruralpopulationslivinginpovertymovetofindworkinillegal industrialoperations.Sincetheyhavelimitedoptions,themigrantworkersdonotpayattentiontosafetyissuesandarewillingtoworkunderriskycircumstances.[82]

Health hazards posed to mine workers by the accidents include ‘injury, woundinfections, hypothermia, decompression syndromes, organ damage and death’.[82]Agapexists still in the researchonpsychosocial effectsof the accidentsonsurvivors, although evidence from other countries shows that they are oftenpsychologically traumatised, and that the damage extends to the relatives of thevictims. [77] In addition to accidents, however, themining industry poses otherthreatstopublichealth.

TheuseofcoalistheleadingcauseforChina’sairpollution,andhascontributedtocancerbeing themaincauseofdeath in thecountry, lungcancerbeing themostcommon. In addition, dust and toxic emissions lead to respiratory diseases. Inadditiontothosewhodiefromaccidents,10000mineworkersdieeveryyearduetolungdiseaseasaresultofdust.[83]Theseadverseeffectsonhealth,combinedwith other effects such as pollution, environmental degradation and miningaccidents make that the mining industry is also a source of great economicdamage.[84]

4.1.2 Otherindustrialaccidents

Another type of industrial disasters that occurs in China, is hazardous chemicalaccidents,whichcanbedefinedasthe‘uncontrolledreleaseofasignificantamountof toxic, explosive or flammablematerials duringproduction, operation, storage,transportation, use and disposal of chemicals, where people, property and/ornearbyenvironmentareseriouslyaffected’[85].

A study on the characteristics of this kind of accidents identified differencesbetweenaccidents in fixedfacilitiesandduringtransport.Forexample,accidentsin fixed facilities occur more during the day, whereas the average number ofchemicalaccidents intransportwashighestbetween22.00and06.00hours,andtheyareusuallyaresultoftrafficaccidentsratherthanofthechemicalsubstancestransported.

Most of the chemical accidents occur in China’s more economically developedregion,suchasJiangsu,ShandongandZheijiangintheeast.Morethan66%oftheaccidents are due to common chemical products, including ammonia, sulphuricproducts, and inflammable gas fuel. 22% of the chemical accidents resulted in


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evacuation of nearby residents, which is high compared to the 10% in moredevelopedcountries.Thereason for this is theproximityofhazardous industrialplantsandresidentialareas.Evenifplantswerebuiltinscarcelypopulatedareas,due to China’s rapid urbanization they have gradually become surrounded byresidential areas. This reflects poor urban planning and industrial site layout,whichhasputalargerpartofthepopulationatriskforthiskindofaccidentsandthe consequences.For theseaccidents, explosionsare themost common in fixedfacilitieswith48.4%,but in transportationthemain type isreleaseofhazardouschemicals,whichmadeup79.6%ofthecases.

Potentialeffectsthatcanaggravatethedisasterincludesecondaryaccidentssuchas release-fires, serialexplosions, collapseandenvironmentalpollution. In termsofhealthimpact,explosions,releasesandfirescausethemostsevereinjuriesandlead to themost deaths. In the case of China, explosions and releases generallycausemoredeathsthansevereinjuries,whichincontradictingpreviousresearchinotherlocations.Thiscanbeexplainedbythenatureoftheaccidents.Chemicalexplosions instantaneously discharge an enormous amount of energy withoverpressurewave,thermalradiationanddebrisimpact.

Chemical releases immediately lead to poisoning and suffocating. Therefore,anyonewhoisinproximityofsuchanaccidentwillhavedifficultytoescapeandismore likely to die than to suffer severe injury. Timely and proper emergencyrescue could limit the severe effects of these accidents, but since most Chinesefactoriesoperatewithlittleornoon-sitemedicalcare,andaccidentsoftenoccurinremoteplaceswhereemergencymedicalteamscannotprovidetimelyassistance,manyseriouslyinjuredvictimsdie.

Sometimethenumberofinitialdeathsismultipliedseveraltimesduetoalackofadequateemergencymedicalresponse.Thedirectcausesforhazardouschemicalaccidents are most often due to human factors, followed by equipment and inabout 90% of the cases it is a result of conscious rule-breaking behaviour.Environmentalfactorsandnaturalhazardsareonlyresponsibleforasmallportionoftheaccidents.[86]

Besidesthecoalminingandthemanufacturingsector,industrialaccidentshappeninanumberofotherenergy-relatedindustries,amongothertheoilchain,naturalgaschain,andhydropower. In theoil chain,between1969and1999oneor twosevere accidents happened every year, most of which occurred duringtransportation,butmostfatalitiesoccurredintheexplorationstages.Accidentsinthenaturalgasindustryhavebeenreportedsince1989.Therearenocleartrendsin causesor impact of the accidentsbecauseof the lackof data, butmost of thefatalitiesoccurredintwolargeaccidentsin1993.[80]

AnotherimportantsourceofenergyinChinaishydropower.China’shydropowerindustryhasalonghistory,butmoderntechnologywasadoptedinthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury.Itwasestimatedthatin2000therewere85000damsoperatinginthecountrythatarebeingusedforhydropower,floodcontrolandirrigation,ofwhichsome22000were largedams(46%of theworld’s largedams).However,according to the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, more than one third of


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thosedamsweredefectiveandneededtoberepairedinthefirstdecadeofthe21stcenturytopreventdisaster.[80]

However, in 2011, more than 40 000 dams were still claimed to be at risk forfailure.Thegovernmenthasallocatedmorethan10billionUS$toaprogrammetorepair and reinforce dams and reservoirs, which aims to make all dams acrossChinasafeby2015.Mostof thedamsat riskwereconstructed in the1950sand1960s tobreak the cycle of devastatingdroughts and floods.At the time, due tolimited technology and less developed economy, many dams were constructedfrom compacted earth and had a lifespan of 50 years, which has already beensurpassed.But even though the government is puttingpressureon the repair ofdams,localgovernmentsarereluctanttoputthatmuchmoneyandeffortintotheprogramme.[87]

4.2 Transportaccidents

As in many other countries with motorized transport, has a large burden oftransportaccidents.AccordingtoEM-DAT,mostdeathsareduetowaterandroadaccidents.Thedatabasereported132roadaccidentsand74wateraccidentssince1980,resultingin3277and3468deaths,respectively.However,whenlookingatnumberofpeopleinjured,railaccidentshavethelargestimpact.22railaccidentshave led to 3469 injured people, which is the largest share of all transportaccidents.[2]

Althoughroad trafficaccidentsandcasualties inChinahavebeendecliningsince2002,theyarestillabigpublichealthburden.Recently,amoreparticulareventisbecomingofmajorconcern:trafficaccidents involvingschoolbuses.Theseareofconcernbecausetheyinvolvethelivesofschool-agedchildren.Between2007and2012, more than 61 school bus accidents happened, in which 373 people werekilledandinjured.

Most accidents happened in rural areas. There are many reasons for theseaccidents, but overloaded buses, careless teachers or drivers, illegal buses andpoorallocationplanningofeducationwithrapidurbanizationarethemaincauses.ThemostseriousaccidentoccurredinDecember2012,when11werekilledand4injured. The main causes identified were overloading and speeding, althoughgroundsubsidencehasalsobeenmentionedasanimportantfactorcontributingtotheaccident.[88]

5 Naturaldisasterriskreduction

5.1 Policies,strategiesandinstitutions

Disaster reduction activities have been in practice in China for several decades.However,theymainlyfocusonnaturaldisasters.Thelackofpoliciesandstrategiesto reduce the risk of technological disasters is most likely associated with theunderreportingandlackofdataonthiskindofdisasters.Soalthoughtheexistingframework for natural disastersmight be used in the response to technologicaland mass-casualty accidents, there are no specific policies targeting these,


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especiallywhen it comes to prevention ormitigation. Therefore, this section ondisasterriskreductiononlyfocusesonnaturaldisasters.

FollowingthefoundingofthePeople’sRepublicofChinain1949,thegovernmentsetuptheCentralCommissiononNaturalDisasterRelief.ThiscommissionmainlyfocusedonfloodsofthebigriverssuchastheYellowRiverandYangtzeRiver,andpromoted self-help and providing work as coping strategies. In the years thatfollowed,Chinawashitbymultiplenaturaldisasters,andthereductionactivitiesexpandedthroughoutthecountry,butalsocoveredmoresectors.Forexample,theCentral Meteorological Administration and the State Seismological Bureau weresetup.

In the 1970s, more relevant departments and professional and researchinstitutions were initiated to further enhance the prevention and mitigationactivities. Since the 1980s, with the socio-economic progress of the nation, theawarenessof thepotentialdamageofnaturalhazardshas increased. Inaddition,the possibilities of includingmore advanced technologies gradually modernizedtheexistingsystemsofdisasterreduction.[89]

However,muchoftheprogresshasbeenmadesincethe1990s.Since1989,morecomprehensivedisasterreductionorganisationshavebeenestablished,bothatthelocal and the national level, to expand disaster reduction management andplanning, to strengthen education on prevention andmitigation, and to enhanceinternational cooperation. In reaction to the UN resolution on the internationaldecade for natural disaster reduction, the Chinese government established theNationalCommitteefortheInternationalDecadeforNaturalDisasterReductionin1989. This was the first inter-ministerial coordinating organisation, aiming toinstituteanationaldisasterreductionplan,guidelines,policiesandactivityplans;toorganiseandcoordinatenationalandlocaldisasterreductionactivities;andtopropelinternationalexchangeandcooperation.[90]

The fact that the Chinese government recognises disaster reduction as animportantwaytoguaranteedevelopmentofthenationaleconomyandthesociety,hasplayedanimportantroleintheprogress.Oneofthemostpronouncedareasofprogress,isdisaster-relateddeaths.Thenumberofdeathsduetonaturaldisastershasshownaremarkabledecrease,especiallysincethelate20thcentury.Progresshasalsobeenmadeinconstructionwork,especiallyinengineeringworksinareasthreatenedbyfloods,includingtheconstructionofdikes,reservoirsandirrigationanddrainagestations.Monitoringandforecastingsystemshavebeenestablishedand are constantly improved. This kind of activities has been strengthened bycomprehensive coordination agencies, increased publicity and awareness, andeducation.[91]

China’s current disaster reduction plan is based on the Hyogo Framework forAction[92]andwaspublishedin2006,sixyearsafterthe implementationofthepreviousplan,anddescribestheActionPlanfortheperiod2006–2015.Althoughsincethefirstplan,thepublicawarenessontheimportanceofdisasterreductionhaddefinitelygrown, aswell as the response capacityof the country,Chinawasstill facing several challenges which called for further development andimplementation of the plans. Some of the key challenges identified, include the


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spread of social wealth into the high-risk zones due to the continued economicgrowth and urbanization, and the deterioration of the ecological environment,whichleadstoanincreasedfrequencyandsphereofinfluenceofnaturaldisasters.[93]

5.2 ProgresstowardsHyogoFrameworkforAction

The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) provides nations with a strategic andsystematic approach to reduce vulnerabilities and risks to hazards. Its aim is tosubstantiallyreducedisasterlosses,inlivesaswellasinthesocial,economicandenvironmental assets of a country or community. [92] China is among thecountriesthathaveadoptedtheframeworkandareworkingtowardsthisgoal.

5.2.1 Strategicgoals

According toaprogress reportby thegovernmenton the implementationof theHFA between 2011 and 2013, China has further integrated natural disaster riskreductionandreliefintosocialandeconomicdevelopmentplans.Thegovernmenthas issued several disaster reduction plans, integrated a chapter on disasterprevention and reduction in the 12th National Five-year Plan, and it revised theNational Nature Disaster Relief Contingency Plan, which includes strengthenedearly-warningresponseandinter-departmentemergencyresponselinkages.

The progress has not only been at national level. Since 2013, many of China’sprovinces have established provincial-level disaster reduction committees. Someeven have their own coordinating agencies. At the local level, natural disasterresponse plans have been perfected in towns, villages and communities. Inaddition,community-baseddisasterriskreductionhasbeenenhanced,mainlybybuilding demonstration communities that should drive others to establishcontingencyplans,organizedisasterriskinspections,workouttheirowndisasterriskmap,etc.[94]

5.2.2 Prioritiesforaction

Although China has been making progress towards the HFA, challenges andconstraints remain. The government has been measuring China’s progressaccording to the fivepriorities for action. Priority one is to ‘ensure thatdisasterriskreduction isanationaland localprioritywithastrong institutionalbasis forimplementation’.Atpresent,Chinahasarelativelycompletelawregulationsystemfordisasterpreventionandreduction.However,thissystemlackscomprehensivedisasterreductionlawandregulations,asitisbasedonthetraditionalprincipleof‘onelawforoneevent’.

Thishamperstheimplementationandleadstotheinabilityofeliminatingdisasterrisks. Themany laws are redundant and in some cases conflicting,whichmakescoordinationdifficult.Anotherimportantconstrainingfactorisfinancialresources.TheChinesegovernmentallocatesfundsspecificallyfordisasterriskreductionandrelief, but these funds do notmeet the needs and it is difficult to allocate themlocally, because integration of disaster reduction and relief are not alwaysintegratedintothefinancialbudgetoflocalgovernments.[94]


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Priority for action two, is to ‘identify, assess and monitor disaster risks andenhance earlywarning’. China lagsbehind in this aspect, because it startedverylatewithdisasterriskevaluation.Thesystemisthereforeimmatureanddoesnotyetinvolvemulti-disasterriskmanagement.

Also,lackofastandardizedinformationsystemmakesitdifficulttointegratedataof various departments into a national platform. However, the natural disasterreporting andmonitoring network has continuously developed and has becomequite extensive. Early-warning information needs to be expanded especially toruralandremoteareas,whereatpresenttheinformationlackstimelinessduetoinadequateemergencyresponsecommunicationandinformationsharingfromthelocalgovernments.[94]

Thethirdpriorityinvolvesusing‘knowledge,innovationandeducationtobuildaculture of safety and resilience at all levels’. In this aspect, China is doing quitewell.Disasterpreventionandreductionhavebeenincorporatedintoschool-basedcurriculum according to local conditions, which improves awareness andcapabilityofprimaryandsecondaryschool students to respond to sudden-onsetdisasters.

Theeducationdepartmentisintegratingdisasterreductionandpreventionintoitsteachingprogrammeinordertocoverallschoolsandclasses.Effortisalsoputintoincreasing science and technology in the sector, with several research anddevelopmentprogrammesbeingestablished.However,limitedexpenditurebythegovernment restricts improvement, and results inanunevendistributionamongdifferentdisasters.

Forexample,muchoftheresearchhasbeendoneonearthquakes,relatingtopost-disaster reconstruction, prevention and early-warning systems. For this thirdpriority,differencesarealsomarkedattheregionallevel.EasternChina,duetoitsmoredevelopedeconomicbasis,canputmoreresourcesintodisasterreductionatthe local level, thereby strengthening resilience of the communities, whereas inwestern provinces resources are scarcer, which results in more unevendevelopmentbetweenruralandurbanareas.[94]

Prioritynumber fourrequiresreducingunderlyingrisk factors.Oneof theseriskfactors is environmental degradation, which can be reduced by incorporatingdisaster risk reduction into environmental policies and plans such as naturalresourcemanagementandclimatechangeadaptation. In thisaspectChina isnotdoingverywell,havingaweakbasis forenvironmentalemergencyresponseandlackingforexampleintegratedplanningforvulnerableareassuchascoastalzones.Anotherkeyfactoristhevulnerabilityofeconomicactivities.

The Chinese government is tackling this for example by projects for rivermanagement,inordertoresistfloods.Inaddition,improvementshavebeenmadein earthquake-resistant construction. Millions of earthquake-safe houses havebeen constructed and projects have been initiated to enhance the disasterresistance capacity of primary and middle schools. Infrastructure on the otherhandisstillinneedoffurtherimprovement.[94]


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The lastpriority is to ‘strengthendisasterpreparedness foreffectiveresponseatall levels’. China has developed great capacity for natural disaster response, andemergency response plan systems have been formed at basically all levels.However,problemsremaininquality,feasibilityandcoverage.

Becausetheemergencyresponseplansystemischaracterizedbybothverticalandhorizontal networks, coordination is still a point for improvement, aswell as anefficient data-sharing platform. An important element of disaster reduction andenhancement of the emergency response is the emergency drill. Drills are beingorganizedofallsizesandtypesinaccordancewithactualconditions,andthishelpslocaldepartmentsintheirdecisionmaking.[94]

Overall China is on the right track. It has a strong institutional basis for naturaldisasterreduction,whichcoversallstagesofthedisastercycletoacertainextent.However,thereisstillalotofroomforimprovement.Oneofthemajorchallengesidentified here is coordination and information sharing between all levels ofgovernmentandotherinstitutionsinvolvedindisasterreduction.

5.3 Implementationandresults

Much of China’s achievement in natural disaster risk reduction became visibleafter the earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008. The efficient response andrecovery of the Chinese government has been praised by the internationalcommunity, and showed especially progress in terms of disaster preparedness,response and reconstruction. A review of the events after the earthquake willshowtowhatextentChinahasbeenimplementingitspoliciesandplans.

5.3.1 Thecaseofthe2008Sichuanearthquake

OnMay 12th, 2008 an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 on the Richter scale struckChina.TheepicentrewasinWenchuancounty,Sichuanprovince.Theimpactoftheearthquakewas huge, andwas spread over ten of China’s provinces. Forweeksafterthequake,secondarydisasterssuchaslandslidesandaftershockscontinuedtocausedevastationandmadethereliefworkcomplicated.Intotal,69226peoplewere confirmed to have died, another 17 923 were missing and 374 643 wereinjured.

Dueto thecollapseof5.36millionbuildingsand21milliondamaged,at least15millionpeoplewere evacuated. [95] CREDhas reported the economic loss at 85billionUS$ [2],but theChinaStateCouncil InformationOffice [95]estimated thedirect losses at even 125.7 billion US$, most of which was due to loss ofinfrastructureandbuildings.

The most severely affected areas covered 130 000km² across three provinces(Sichuan,GansuandShaanxi),which inhabitedalmost20millionpeople.Mostofthe affected population were rural residents and relatively underprivilegedcomparedtootherpartsofChina.Regionssouth-eastofwheretheearthquakehitare much more densely populated, have more resources and are moreeconomically developed than the regions in the north-west,which are relativelyisolatedandhavelimitedeconomicandindustrialdevelopment.[95]


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Intheinitialresponse,atotalof130000Chinesetroopsweredispatched.Insomecases,parachuteswereusedtoaccessvillagesthatwereotherwiseinaccessible.Inaddition,45000nursesanddoctors fromaround thecountryweremobilized toassistinthereliefoperations.

Compared to events from the past, the government was faster in providinginformation and the control over journalists was decreased. Soon after treatingmanyofthedirectinjuries,thefocusshiftedtothepreventionofepidemicsduetodisruptionsinthewaterandpowersuppliesandtheovercrowdstreetsandcamps.Small medical stations were set up throughout the affected area, and water,portabletoiletsandfacemaskswereprovided. Inaddition,bookletswerehandedoutwithinstructionsforthepreventionofmalariaandwaterbornediseases.[70]

OnJune8th,lessthanamonthaftertheearthquake,thegovernmentissuedtheactconcerning the Wenchuan earthquake disaster recovery and reconstruction.Throughout June toAugust,damageresearchwasconducted, temporaryhousingconstructedandrecoveryplanswerebeing formulated. InSeptember theoverallrecovery and reconstruction plan was finalized, after which local governmentsformulated their own plans and residents started the reconstruction of houses.[96]

To provide the financial resources for the recovery, China initiated a newprogramme, the so-called Partner Support or Twin Assistance programme, inwhicheconomicallydevelopedprovincesorcitiesprovidesupporttotheaffectedareasonaone-to-onebasis.19provincesandcitiessupported18heavilyaffectedcounties and cities in Sichuan and seriously damaged districts in Gansu andShaanxiprovince,byallocating1%oftheirannualincometorecoveryprojectsforthethreeyearsfollowingtheearthquake.[95,97]

Collapsedhouseswere the largestcause forhumanandpropertydamageduringand after the earthquake. In rural areas, some houses were traditionallyconstructed of wood, and these sustained damage to a lesser extent. However,mostofthehousesweremadeofbrick,whichisoneofthereasonsfortheheavydamagetohouses. Inurbanareas,manyhouseswerebuilt fromhollowconcreteblockorhollowfloorpanelsonbrickwalls.

Thejointsbetweenwallsandfloorpanels,reinforcedwithsteelwires,wereoftenstillintact,thoughthefloorshadcollapsed.Manymid-risehousingbuildingswerealso severely damaged,with collapsed joints and damaged brickwalls. [96] TheministryofHousingandUrban-RuralDevelopmentorganizedaprogrammefortheprovision of onemillion pre-fabricated houses for temporary settlements of thevictimsbeforemovingtopermanentnewhouses.

Thereconstructionofpermanenthousesemergedasthemostchallengingtaskoftherecovery,duetoashortageinfundingandlimitationsofsuitableland.SichuanisoneofChina’smostpopulatedprovinces,andinadditiongeologicalchangesasaresult of landslides,mountainmovements and changes inwatercourses led to ashortageoflandforreconstructionofhousing.Inordertosaveland,theoldsmallvillages where houses were originally scattered around, merged into morecompact villages. Before the programme of housing reconstruction started, the


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province governments emphasized that the new houses should meet therequirements of the seismic regulations. Because this increased the cost ofreconstruction, the government developed severalmeasures to assist those thatneededadditionalfinancialassistance,includingsofteningofthecriteriaforloansandsmallcredits,andaprovincialguaranteefund.[97]

In addition to residential buildings, many public facilities suffered severestructural damage. These included schools, hospitals, production facilities andinfrastructure, which occurred especially in mountainous areas. Especially thereconstructionofschoolswasimportant.MostoftheschoolsinSichuanprovinceneededtobeclosedduetotheextensivedamage.[96]

Becausetheearthquakehappenedduringschoolhours,anun-proportionallylargenumberofchildrendied,whichreinforcedsafetyofprimaryandmiddleschoolsasa key priority of administration at all levels. In 2009, theMinistry of Educationstarted a national programme to upgrade building safety in schools all over thecountry. In the earthquake-affected areas almost 5000 schools needed to berebuilt.Localgovernmentsusually increasedthecompulsorybuildingcodeswithone level and requested that institutions strictly abide by these codes. Butattentionwasnotonlypaidtostructuralimprovement.

In order to make public buildings safer, knowledge, technical skills andmanagement of the risks by local staff should be improved. This was done byproviding training through the Twin Assistance programmes. In some cases on-the-job guidancewas provided by professionals, in others teachers, doctors andmanagersreceivedshorttermtraininginthedonorprovinces.Thiscombinationofstructural recovery andnon-structuralupgrading resulted in great improvementinthesafetyofpublicbuildings.[97]

Another point of focus in the recovery after the earthquake was psychosocialsupport. Experiences have shown that such support is critical for the long-termrecoveryofpeopleandcommunitiesthatsurviveadisaster.Apilotprojectwithaspecialfocusonthemostvulnerablegroups(elderly,womenandchildren)wassetupinsixsitesinSichuanprovince.Almostnoneofthecommunityhealthworkershadbeentrainedonbasicpsychosocialcrisisinterventionorhadexperiencewithpost-traumaticstressdisorder.

Therefore themost importantactivityof theprojectwas toprovidetrainingthatcoveredcommunicating skills, cognitionand treatmentof commonpsychologicalproblems, counselling, post-disaster public health education and self-protectionfor thoseworking indisaster response.Thiswas the first time thatpsychosocialsupportwasintroducedinChinainpost-disasterrecovery.[97]

In order to avoid long-term dependence on relief programmes and to helprecoveryanddevelopmentoftheaffectedareas,theChinesegovernmenthadtheobjective that all affected families should have income sources and the chieflabourer of the family should have a secure job. If this would not be achieved,socialstabilitywoulddeteriorateintheaffectedareasandthegovernmentbudgetwould be overloaded by the relief operations. Thus, the Ministry of HumanResources and Social Security subsidized the promotion of employment;


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emergency employment services and assistance was restored; and self-employment was encouraged by provision of financial support and favourablebusiness policies. The Twin Assistance programmes also contributed to therestorationofincomegeneratingactivities,mainlybyrecruitinglocallabourersfortheirreconstructionprojects.[97]

Ascanbeconcluded fromtheabove, theChinesegovernmentwasefficient in itslong-term reconstruction planning and did not merely aim for full recovery.Buildingbackbetterwasoneof theguidingprinciplesandlocalauthoritieswereencouragedtoviewthethreeyearprocessofreconstructionasanopportunityfordevelopment,especially inruralareas.Atotalof157billionUS$wasallocatedintheplanforrestorationworkintheaffectedcounties,andlocalgovernmentsweregivenapredominantrole.

Surveys show that there are grounds to describe the recovery process assuccessful. Most damage was repaired quickly, houses, public facilities andinfrastructure were improved, education and healthcare systems continued tofunctionandhadresumednormaloperationswellbeforetheendoftherecoveryperiod. Management and coordination of China’s government showed a balancebetweentheallocationofresourcesanddevolutiontothelocallevel.[98]

Not only did theWenchuan earthquake lead to further development of nationalpolicies on disaster risk reduction, the good practices have also assisted inearthquakesthatfollowed.Whenaneighbouringprovincewasstruckbyastrongquake inApril 2010, Sichuan provincewas the first to send reliefmaterials andexperiencedrescueteamstotheaffectedregion.OfficialsinchargeofplanninganddecisionmakingworkedtogetherwithofficialsfromSichuanintheplanningofthepost-disasterrecoveryandreconstruction.[97]

Earlierthisyear,inApril2013,Sichuanprovincewashitbya7.0magnitudequake,which proved to be a test for its emergency system. Although the province’sresponse and coordination had improved since 2008, some problems remained.Landslidesagaindamagedimportantroadstothehardesthitmountainousareas,andalternativeroadsweresoonblockedbyavarietyofvehicles.Althoughtrafficcontrol measures were immediately in place, some roads remained congested,resulting in the government’s controversial ban on individual volunteers andunauthorisedorganisationsintothearea,inordertoimprovetheefficiencyofthereliefoperations.

Accordingtoexperts,China’sresponsewasmorerapidandefficientthanin2008,andreliefwasinplacefastandmedicalcarewellorganized.Since2010,Chinahasestablished22healthemergencyteamsacrossthecountrytorespondtodifferenthealth emergencies. A team from Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital, used its fullyequippedportablehospitalforthefirsttimethisyear,andthreeothersuchteamsweresenttotheaffectedareas.

InMay 2012, the province had last tested its disaster response systemduring adrill that simulated a8.0magnitude earthquake.More than10000peoplewereinvolved in the drill, which included search and rescue, triage, evacuation andmedical treatment. Although such efforts have strengthened the system, there is


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still a need for further improvement. Concerns have been raised about theinsufficient air-rescue system, sincedisruptions in communication and transportafterearthquakesremainoneofthehardestchallengesforreliefoperations.[99]

So although China has been continuously implementing policies on disaster riskreduction, inrecoveryaswellas inpreventionandresponsecapacity,challengesremain.Incorporatingriskreductionintothereconstructionprocesshasproventobeeffectiveafterthe2008earthquake,whichcanbeusedasanexampleforfuturedisasters.However,theimportanceofinformationsharingaboutgoodpracticesisevidentforthefurtherimprovementofChina’sdisasterreductionactivities.

6 Discussionandconclusions

TheaimofthisreportwastoprovideanoverviewofdisastersthatChinafacesandtheir impact, and to relate them with underlying factors that may increase ordecreaseexposureandvulnerability.Themostimportantconstrainttopresentingacomprehensiveoverviewwasthelackofreliabledataontechnologicaldisasters.AlthoughitisknownthatChinahasahighburdenoftechnologicaldisasters,itwasnotpossibletoquantifytheirimpacthereandthereforetocomparethiswiththeimpactofnaturaldisasters.

Due to themuch larger amount of information available on natural disasters inChina, theyhavebeenthe focusof thisreport.However, thisdoesnotmeanthattheriskof technologicaldisasters is less important.Onthecontrary,studies thathavebeenconductedimplythattheimpactonhumanlivescurrentlymaybealotbigger for technological than for natural disasters. Therefore, it is stronglyrecommendedthatmoreresearchisdoneontheriskthatChinafacesintermsoftechnological disasters, and on possible strategies to decrease the population’svulnerability.

Fornaturaldisasters, the largediversity andhigh frequency comes fromChina’swidevarietyingeologic,geographicandclimatologicfeatures.Regionaldifferencesin socioeconomic development and population density mostly account for thevarietyintermsofimpactofthedisasters.Overall,provincesinthesouthandeastofthecountryaremostoftenaffectedbynaturaldisasters,ofwhichearthquakes,floodsandstormsarethemostfrequentandhavethelargestimpact.Trendsoftheimpactovertimearealsovisible.

Since the 1980s, with some exceptions of events such as the 2008 Wenchuanearthquake,theannualnumberofdeathscausedbynaturaldisastersisdecreasing.ThisseemstobeareflectionofChina’simprovementindisasterriskmanagement,which really picked up after the 1980s. While China was making incredibleeconomicprogress,theawarenessoftheconsequencesofnaturaldisastersforthecountry’ssocioeconomicdevelopmentgrew.

Itwas recognised thatdisasters affect thepotential for growth, both in termsofeconomyandsocialdevelopment.Mainlypreventiveandmitigationmeasuressuchasconstructionofdamsanddykesforfloodcontrol,andincreasingbuildingcodesfor seismic resistance, have helped decrease the number of natural disaster-


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related deaths. However, with China’s development, exposure to disaster alsoincreased significantly. People’s property and its value increased, infrastructurebecame more extensive, agriculture and industries developed further. All thisresultedinincreasingeconomicdamageduetonaturaldisasters.Forearthquakes,alargeproportionofthedamageistobuildings.

In urban areas, most buildings are made from concrete and brick: types ofstructures that aremore vulnerable to earthquakes than for examplewood andsteal.Inlargecitiesthisvulnerabilityisincreasedbythefactthatmanybuildingsarehigh-rise.Still,smallertownsalsosuffergreatamountsofdamage,becausethebuilding codes are not being implemented to the same extent. For floods andstormsontheotherhand,concreteandbrickhousesandotherbuildingsaremoreresistant.Itisthepeoplelivingintraditionalwood-framehousesthatarerenderedhomeless.

At the local level,water disasters have a great impact on agriculture,with largeamountsofcropsbeingdamagedorcompletelylost,especiallythosecropsthataresensitive toexcessiverain.At thenational level,however,economicdamageasaresultoflostcropsisminor,becauseotherareasusuallyprofitfromtheincreaseinrainfall that accompanied the disaster. Industries are mainly affected by floods,since China hosts different sectors that are vulnerable to water, such aselectronics.

Like economic damage, the number of people affected by natural disasters hasalsobeenincreasing.Thisispartiallyduetothegrowingpopulation,butalsodueto increasing urbanization. People are moving to urban areas that are moreexposedto floodsandstorms,becausemostof theopportunitiescanbe foundincitiesalongthecoast,orintheYangtzeriverbasin.

The combination of less deaths and more people affected reflects theimprovementsinChina’sforecastingandearlywarningsystem,especiallywhenitcomes to hydro-meteorological disasters. This helps the population prepare forimpendinghazardsandeventualevacuation. Impactsonpublichealtharemostlydirect,asChinesedisasterreliefoperationstakegreatcareinepidemicprevention,both incaseofearthquakesandstormsor floodswhenbasicwaterandsanitaryservices may be disrupted. Psychosocial damage is getting more and moreattention,andwas implemented for the first time inapilot studyafter the2008earthquakeinSichuanprovince.Sincethen,reportsofothernaturaldisastershavealsoincreasinglymentionedpsychosocialdisordersasapublichealthimpact.

Thefactthatnaturaldisastersareincreasinginfrequency,ismainlyduetohumanfactors. Several human activities can induce natural disasters such as floods,droughts or landslides. Examples of these triggering factors in China includedeforestation,mining and the construction of hydropower dams. These kinds ofactivities increase soil instability,which can lead to landslides, and soil erosion,which increasesvulnerability todroughtsor floods. Inaddition, combinedglobalhuman activities are contributing to climate change by the production ofgreenhousegasses.


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Chinaisamajorcontributorofthesegasses,bothduetoitslargeindustrialsectorandpopulation.However, themost important reasonwhyChina’s impacton thegreenhouse effect is substantial, is that it is the largest consumer of coal,whichreleases large amounts of greenhouse gasses when burnt. Climate change isleading to more extreme weather events, which China is quite vulnerable to.Floods, droughts, extreme temperature and storms are becomingmore frequentandmore severe. Policies and strategies for natural disaster risk reductionwillhavetobeadaptedinthefutureinordertocopewiththeeffectsofclimatechange.

Eventhoughitisdifficulttoobtainreliableandunambiguousdataontheriskandimpact of technological disasters in China, some general trends were found.Technological disasters have been on the rise, in parallel with China’s rapideconomic development. The largest share of these disasters are industrialaccidents in different sectors, which is in agreement with theories stating thatindustrialgrowthcoincideswithincreasedfatalitiesintheworkplace.Notonlyisthe number of accidents incredibly large, also the workplace fatality rate isconsiderablylargerthanhasbeenreportedbyothercountries.

Themost important factorunderlying the large impactof industrial accidents, isthe lackofsafetyregulationsandtheir implementation.This ismostlyduetothestrong focuson economicdevelopment and thepromotionof growth,whichhasbeenatthecostofhumanlife.Whatmakesthismattercomplicated, isthatthereareproblemsatdifferentlevelsoforganization.

For a long time, the government did not hold local officials responsible forindustrial accidents that happened under their supervision. In addition, localgovernmentofficialsandemployersignoresafetyregulationstodecreasecostsofproduction, and they often do not report accidents to avoid reprisal by thegovernment.Evenworkers themselvescontribute to thehighrisk.Manyof themareunskilled,whichincreasestheirvulnerabilityandthegeneralriskofaccidents.In addition, they do not pay attention to workplace safety, because they havelimited options for employment and are therefore willing to work underdangerouscircumstances.Improvementsshouldespeciallybemadeintheminingsector, which represents the largest share of industrial accidents, and the mostminingaccident-relateddeathsworldwide.

In addition to the accidents, theChinesemining sectorposeshealth threats to alarge number of people, not only including workers but also surroundingpopulation.ThemostimportantfactorthatmakesChina’spopulationvulnerabletohealth threats from industries, is theproximityof industries to residentialareas.Thisagainisaresultofrapidandunplannedurbanization.

A vicious cycle seems to be in place around China’s technological disasters.Because there is a lack of national policies and regulations, including oninformation sharing, mystery still surrounds these disasters. This affects thelearning and improvement, which could decrease the impact of technologicalhazards. At the same time, the large-scale ignorance on this topic and itsmagnitudefailstoaddresstheneedtodevelopthesepolicies.


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As a result, China’s disaster risk reduction to this date does not incorporatetechnological hazards. National disaster reduction plans and regulationsincorporatedintotheNationalFive-YearPlansonlyaddressnaturaldisasters.Andalthoughthereisstillaneedfor improvementhere,a lotofprogresshasalreadybeenmade.

A shift in focus to technological, and especially industrial, disasters could havegreat potential for reducing morbidity and mortality in China. Therefore, it isstronglyrecommendedthatmoreresearchisconductedontheriskandimpactoftechnological disasters in China, in order to develop policies and strategies todecreasethepopulation’svulnerability.

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Documents

Emergency and Disaster Reports 2016; 3 (4): 3-48 Reports · natural disasters (58.8%), but floods account for the most people affected (64.0%). [1] In addition, China faces many technological