REMEMBERING CHINA’S EARTHQUAKE DISASTER.
Part I
MAY 12, 2008
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of
North Carolina, USA
MAGNITUDE 8.0 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES CHINA’S SICHUAN
PROVINCE
2:30 PM LOCAL TIME
MAY 12, 2008
WHAT HAPPENED?
• The deadliest earthquake in China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake.
• 80 percent of the buildings in Beichuan County of Sichuan Province collapsed.
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY
• More than 10,000 injuries.• Current estimate of dead at
12,000, but that number is expected to rise.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARTHQUAKE
• Epicenter was located 100 km (60 miles) from Chengdu, the provincial capital, which is on edge of the Tibetan foothills and home to about 10 million people.
• This earthquake occurred on a well known fault zone, which has generated destructive earthquakes in the past (e.g., on 25 August 1933).
COMPARISON WITH 1976 TANGSHAN EARTHQUAKE
• This earthquake was more than 2 x larger than the July 28,1976 Tangshan earthquake, which caused at least 240,000 deaths.
• But, the epicenter of the 1976 quake was directly under Tangshan.
WHAT HAPPENED IN CHANGDU?
• Eyewitness account: “Traffic jams, no running water, power outages, everyone sitting in the streets, patients evacuated from hospitals, and cell phones inoperable.”
CHANGDU, 100 KM FROM EPICENTER
CHANGDU: DEBRIS
CHANGDU: RUPTURED WATER PIPE
CHANDU: PREMIER WEN JIABAO PLANS RELIEF; MAY 12
EMERGENCY RESOURCES
• More than 20,000 military personnel ordered to assist in high-damage areas.
• Estimates of dead at end of first day was 10,000, but that number is expected to rise.
CHANGDU STUDENTS FEAR AFTERSHOCKS: MAY 12
SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE
• Many buildings collapsed in the epicentral region.
• Collapses included: 9 schools, one hospital, and one chemical plant.
• 900 students were trapped in the rubble of a collapsed 3-story middle school.
SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE
• Some roads were impassable because of landslides.
• Hundreds were trapped in a collapsed chemical plant.
• The collapse caused a spill of 80 tons of liquid ammonia.
DUJIANGYAN: COLLAPSED BUILDING
COLLAPSED HOME: DUJIANGYAN
IMMEDIATE SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORTS
VICTIM OF SCHOOL COLLAPSE RECEIVING MEDICAL
ATTENTION
DONATING BLOOD
INJURED MAN RUSHED TO HOSPITAL
BUT HOSPITAL IN FUYANG: WAS EVACUATING PATIENTS
GROUND SHAKING FELT OVER LONG DISTANCES
• The ground shaking excited tall buildings in Beijing, 1550 km away, and caused them to sway for several minutes.
• Tall buildings in Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam were also excited into motion.
• Some fled; others were evacuated..
NO DAMAGE TO THREE GORGES DAM:1,000 KM AWAY
BUILDINGS SHOOK IN BEIJING; 1550 KM FROM EPICENTER
EVACUATION IN BANGKOK, THAILAND