Lessons from Wenchuan Earthquake Disaster in China
Peijun SHI
State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology (ESPRE)
Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Nature Disaster, Ministry of Education (ECND)
Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management, MOC and MOE (ADREM)
Beijing Normal University
WORKING SESSION Lessons from Mega Disasters, 10.00 to 11.30, Sunday, 15th March, 2015,Sendai ,Japan
Wenchuan Earthquake Earth-suface Rupture MapThe M>=4 aftershock distribution map (up to August 9 of 2008)
The destructive zone of the earthquake faultthrough the old city of Beichuan County
Secondary Disasters Induced by Wenchuan Earthquake
• The induced geological disasters: induced by the earthquake and rainstorms, reaches 9556, including 5117 landslides, 3575 rock falls, 358 debris flows
• The secondary disasters such as barrier lakes, damaged reservoirs and damaged dams: – 34 barrier lakes with different levels of danger, and the Tangjiashan Barrier Lake near the county seat
of Beichuan County was of extremely severe danger;
– Over 1800 damaged reservoirs in Sichuan province;
– Dams in Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Gansu and Yunnan with a length of 1054km were damaged
Landslide and rockfall Induced by Wenchuan Earthquake
Field Investigation Points
Heavy Rain
Rock Collapse Landslides
Earthquake
Barrier lakesDebris Flow
Wenchuan Earthquake Disaster Chains
Integrated emergency disaster assessment map of Wenchuan Earthquake
Casualties
12:00 of July 11, 2008, the Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan province had caused:
– 69197 death toll– 18341 people missing– 374176 injured– 15.106 billion transferred and relocated– 96445 hospitalized injured people, of which 88391 people have
left hospital already, and 5405 people remain in hospital– 3334 people who had been transferred to other provinces from
Sichuan province– Treatments of the sick and wounded summed up to 2827552
person-times – Losses (billion RMB) : 853.0
Response to the Wenchuan earthquake The State Council issued the Regulation on Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction .
It clarified the detailed responsibilities of government at all levels in the rehabilitation and reconstruction after the earthquake.
In accord with this regulation, an expert earthquake rescue group was established to investigate and evaluate the earthquake to provide support for the formulation of plans for post-earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Regulation on post-Wenchuan earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction (a) and Wenchuan earthquake impact
assessment map (b)
Rebuilt town, Shuimo in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province
Response to the Wenchuan earthquake
The regulation stated that the financial assistance given by the provinces or municipalities should be no less than 1% of its local fiscal revenue of the previous year. To express the country’s condolences to the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake, the State Council declared May 19–21 2008 to be National Grief Day.
The response to the Wenchuan earthquake was the fastest and largest mobilization of help in Chinese history. The guarantees stated in various policies resulted in a very successful and effective rehabilitation and reconstruction process. As a result, within 3 years, the disaster-hit area recovered and even surpassed its pre-earthquake economic and social development status.
What commitments are expected
to be achieved?
China’s main achievements Lessons Recommendations
Established a disaster prevention and reduction regime, mechanisms and legal system
Improved monitoring, early warning, and risk assessment Established the disaster information sharing service and a
public campaign on disaster prevention and reduction Strengthened the climate change response and disaster risk
governance Strengthened the disaster preparedness
China’s main achievements
An atlas series on natural disasters to support national and local disaster prevention and reduction
The Atlas of Natural Disasters in China (1992) supported the development of the 2000–2005 plan。
The Atlas of Natural Disaster System of China ( 2003 ) served the development of the plan for 2005–2010.
The Atlas of Natural Disaster Risk of China ( 2011 ) was used in the development of the plan for 2011–2015。
Atlas series of natural disasters in China and Worldhttp://www.adrem.org.cn/atlas (13—19,March,2015)
The Chinese experience in the past 25 years illustrates the importance of three shared points:
Identification of the concept of comprehensive disaster prevention and reduction in strategies
Inclusion of goals for comprehensive disaster prevention and reduction in national plans
Actions to strengthen the technological support of comprehensive disaster prevention and reduction.
The synergy between central and local governments requires further improvement
The synergy between urban and rural areas should be further strengthened
The synergy between the government and public still lacks an institutional guarantee
The sectoral management and disaster risk governance still needs to be integrated
Lessons
ChallengesClimate change uncertainties lead to greater environmental risks Global warming
Increase of extreme events Environmental risks will increase Exposure and vulnerability are likely to increase Uncertainties regarding climate change and its impact
Sustainable development is facing challenges from emerging risks Energy and water security are important components of resource safety Food security is foundation of economic and social safety Terrestorial ecosystem stability is the keystone of disaster prevention and reduction. Protection of coastal zone is highly linked to resource and ecological safety
Challenges from globally networked disasters
Distribution of Future High-temperature, Drought and Flood Risk Levels in China under Emission Scenario RCP 8.5 [19]
(Red color denotes highest risk level, and light blue color denotes lowest risk level) The globalization of the influence of disasters
Incorporate economic development, life style, and ecosystem services to better adapt to the changing environment
Promote a green economy strategy by balancing efforts to mitigate disaster loss and enhance benefits
Glob
al c
l ima
te
dive
rsi t
y
Global cl imate
diversi ty
Global cl imate diversi ty
Increasing capabality of cliamate change adaptation
Stru
ctur
e op
timiz
ed
Function perfected
Consilence enhanced
Decrease VulnerabilityIncrease Resilience
Strong Adaptation
Spatial Scale(global ,regional ,l ocal )
Temporal Scale(thousands,hundreds,decades)
Action Dimension
(economy,politics,culture,society)
Increasing capability of coping with LSD
Increasing capability of disaster reduction by
science and technology
Comprehensive disaster risk prevention paradigm under the strategy of “common world, common existence, common development”
RecommendationsPromoting the integration of coping with climate change and disaster
prevention and reduction
Accelerate the transition of economic growth patterns with a focus on structure adjustment supported by innovation and development in science and technology.
Establish a diversified energy security and supply chain system to efficiently reduce the negative impacts of large-scale disaster risks.
Comprehensively improve national and local disaster risk sharing capabilities by establishing a “global large-scale disaster risk financial management system” to realize the risk diversification and sharing in the global context.
RecommendationsPromoting the integration of coping with climate change and disaster prevention
and Holistically improve national and regional risk governance capacity for large-scale disasters
Green Economy
Climate Change Catastrophe Risk
Vegetation Economy
Extreme Climate Events
Increase
PreventMitigate
Carbon Sink
Interrelations between climate change, green economy, and disaster risk
Accelerate the transition of economic growth patterns with a focus on structure adjustment supported by innovation and development in science and technology.
Establish a diversified energy security and supply chain system to efficiently reduce the negative impacts of large-scale disaster risks.
Comprehensively improve national and local disaster risk sharing capabilities by establishing a “global large-scale disaster risk financial management system” to realize the risk diversification and sharing in the global context.
Government Insti tution Enterpri se Individual
NationRegion
ProvinceCounty
PlanningFinancing
TechnologyCivi l
State-ownedPubl i c-owned
PrivateJoint VentureChi ldren
YouthMiddle-AgedElders
Extraction
Consi l i ence
Integrated System
CommunicationConstruction
Cooperation
Coordination
Society
EconomyCul ture
Pol i ti cs
RecommendationsHolistically improve national and regional risk governance capacity for
large-scale disasters
Conceptual model of consilience for integrated large-scale disaster risk governance
Recommendations.Promote the establishment of a global paradigm and an alliance for
large-scale disaster risk governance Develop a global paradigm for large-scale disaster risk governance, to
coordinate present actions by the United Nations to improve sustainable development and to complete the global mechanism for coping with large-scale disaster risks.
Establish a global foundation for large-scale disaster risk, to disseminate, transfer and apply diverse science and technology as well as relevant education, to support the UN in establishing a global disaster transfer mechanism, and to promote science and technology advancement.
Establish a global network for large-scale disaster response to develop an enhanced global education and scientific platform.
Thank you!