www.pitt.edu/~super/

Just-in-Time Lecture

China Earthquake: China Earthquake: 12 May 200812 May 2008

The Global Disaster Health Network

is designed to translate the best

possible scholarly information to

educators worldwide.

What are the Disaster Supercourse

& JIT lecture?

Mission Statement

What is the Disaster Supercourse?

What is a JIT lecture?

http://www.pitt.edu/~super1

Lecture objectives

To provide the best possible scientific

information about the China

earthquake, 12 May 2008

To teach how the science can help

Chinese to be prepared for primary &

secondary prevention of consequences

of

earthquake

Lecture Objectives

In this lecture you will find:

How the vulnerability conditions can change

a natural hazard to a disaster?

What is the Earthquake?

The shaking of earth caused by waves

moving on and below the earth's surface and

causing: surface faulting, tremors vibration,

liquefaction, landslides, aftershocks and/or

tsunamis.

How Earthquake Happens?

It caused by a sudden slip on a FAULT.

Stresses in the earth's outer layer push sides of fault together.

Stress builds up & rocks slips suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the earth's CRUST & cause the shaking that we Feel during an earthquake.

I) Magnitude:

Definition: A measure of actual physical energy

release at its source as estimated from

instrumental observations.

Scale: Richter Scale

By Charles Richter, 1936

Open-ended scale

The oldest & most widely used

Noji 1997

Earthquake Strength Measures

I) Magnitude & II) Intensity

II) Intensity:

Definition: a measure of the felt or perceived effects

of an earthquake rather than the strength of the

earthquake itself.

Scale: Modified Mercalli (MM) scale

12-point scale, ranges from barely

perceptible earthquakes at MM I to

near total destruction at MM XII

Earthquake Strength Measures

I) Magnitude & II) Intensity

Magnitude refers to the force of the earthquake as

a whole, while intensity refers to the effects of an

earthquake at a particular site.

An earthquake can have just one magnitude, while

intensity is usually strongest close to the epicenter

& is weaker the farther a site is from the epicenter.

The intensity of an earthquake is more germane to

its public health consequences than its magnitude.

Magnitude versus Intensity

Please see the following

addresses for above title:

Part I.

http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec13021/index.htm

Part II.

http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec13051/index.htm

Public Health Consequences

of Earthquakes

• The most populous country

• 3rd largest country– 23 provinces– 5 autonomous regions– 4 municipalities – 2 special administrative regions (Hong Kong & Macau)

• 56 ethnic groups:– 91.6% Han people – 8.4% others

Peoples Republic of China

• World’s economic superpower

• Fastest-growing nation for the past 25 years

• Average annual GDP growth rate above 10%

Economic Development in China

www.Heritage.org

Urban areas:• Street clinics – primary health care• District hospitals – secondary care• City hospitals – tertiary care

Rural area:• Village clinics – primary care• Township hospitals – secondary care• Country hospitals – tertiary care

Health System Structure in China

China’s Health Statistics

Population Population 1,323,350,0001,323,350,000

Gross national income per capita (PPP international $) Gross national income per capita (PPP international $) 6,6006,600

Life expectancy at birth m/f (years)Life expectancy at birth m/f (years) 71/74 71/74

Healthy life expectancy at birth m/f (years, 2002)Healthy life expectancy at birth m/f (years, 2002) 63/65 63/65

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2004) Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2004) 277277

Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2004)Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2004) 4.74.7

Source: WHO

10 Top Disaster in China Sorted by Damage US$

Disaster Date Damage US$ (000's)

1 Flood 1-Jul-98 30,000,000

2 Drought Jan-94 13,755,200

3 Flood 30-Jun-96 12,600,000

4 Flood 23-Jun-99 8,100,000

5 Flood 23-Jun-03 7,890,000

6 Flood 1-Jun-91 7,500,000

7 Flood 15-May-95 6,720,000

8 Flood Aug-96 6,314,500

9 Flood Jun-93 6,061,000

10 Earthquake 27-Jul-76 5,600,000

History of Deadly Earthquakes in China

Earthquake Center Year Death Toll

1 Shaanxi 1556 830,000

2 Tangshan 1976 255,000

3 Haiyuan 1920 240,000

4 Chihli 1290 100,000

5 Changma, Gansu 1932 70,000

6 Gulang, Gansu e 1927 40,000

7 Tonghai 1970 15,621

8 Sichuan Diexi 1933 6,800

9 Haicheng 1975 2,041

Source: Wikipedia

Sichuan Province

• Area 485,000 km²

• Population (2004) 87,250,000 (3rd)

• Density 180 /km² (22nd)

• Major nationalities – Han 95.0%– Yi 2.6%– Tibetan 1.5%– Qiang 0.4%

• Magnitude: 7.9 Richter scale

• Local earthquake time: 14.48 Beijing-time

• Location: 30.986°N, 103.364°E

• Depth: 19 km (11.8 miles)

West Sichuan Earthquake, 12th May 2008

Tectonics of Sichuan Earthquake

• Motion on a northeast striking reverse fault or thrust fault on the northwestern margin of the Sichuan Basin

National Mourning• Three-days period of national mourning

• The Chinese National Flag and Regional Flags of Hong

Kong SAR and Macau SAR were raised at half mast.

National Mourning

Yahoo news

Death Tolls & Casualties (as of 23rd May) Affected population: 10.59 Millions and 5.2 Millions left homelessAffected population: 10.59 Millions and 5.2 Millions left homeless

292,481

24,960

3,451

62,664

73,939

0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000

Injured

Death

Hos pitalized

Mis s ed

Died in Hos pitals

Source: OCHA reports

Infrastructure Damage

1 Collapsed Buildings 5.36 Million $

2 Damaged Buildings 21 Million $

3 Pipes 5,000 km

4 Water tanks 839

5 Water treatment works 1,281

• Irrigation systems for 100,000 hectares of paddy fields

• > 50,000 greenhouses

• 7.3 million square meters of livestock barns

Agricultural DamageAgricultural Damage

Relief web

Building Damage

• Number of damaged/collapsed: >15,000,000

• Building earthquake resistant structures makes good economic sense: 3-5% for typical buildings

Giant Pandas

• Unknown situation of 280

giant pandas in Wolong

National Nature Reserve

www.iht.com

• The world just passed a 2-years global campaign of Safe

Schools

• The 2006-7 Global campaign focused on promoting the

safety of school buildings & mainstreaming of disaster risk

reduction (DRR) into school curricula or at least school

activities.

• How are safe the schools in your community?

2006-7 International Campaign on School Safety

According WHO:

1) Treating The Injured

2) Communicable Disease Surveillance & Control

3) Ensuring Safe Water And Food Supply

4) Immediate & Long-term Mental Health & Psychosocial Support

5) Reconstruction Of Health Care System In The Affected Areas

Public Health Priorities

• > 3.3 million tents

• Garbage Treatment Facilities & Sewage Treatment Facilities

• Chemical proof protective clothing, Shoes and masks

• Radiation detector (X ray and Y ray survey meter, Personal

dosimeter)

• Medical Instruments like ECG, Operational Kits, etc

• Medication for infectious disease

Urgent Needs

Source: UNOCHA situation report NO 6, 7 & 8

Do not forget children in Sichuan!

• At least 5,498 children have been left alone in Sichuan Province's quake zone, either because they have been orphaned or their parents cannot be located

Do not forget elderly in Sichuan!

• About 4,800 elderly people left alone due to death of their family or they have been separated from all their relatives

Secondary hazards: Possible dam failure

• 30 cm movement of China's largest earth-rock dam due to earthquake

• 400 damaged dams with possible threat to downstream people

Lake Formation & Flood Threat

• Creating natural dams by moved down rocks into rivers

• Formation of 21 lakes throughout the basin

Dangers due to earthquake-created dams:– Upstream floods

– Instability of the piles of rubble

– Bursting the dam by another quake

– Downstream floods by cascade of water

– Evacuation of thousands of people from Beichuan

30 years continuous evolution in the

practice of Crisis or Disaster Management

Civil defense

Emergency assistance

Disaster response and relief

Humanitarian assistance

Emergency management

Civil protection

Disaster mitigation and prevention

Disaster Risk Management

Strategic shift

from managing

a disastrous

event to more

preventive and

proactive

approaches!!

• A potentially damaging physical event, phenomenon

or human activity that may cause the loss of life or

injury, property damage, social and economic

disruption or environmental degradation.

Natural Geological China Earthquake

Hydro meteorological Flood, Hurricane

Biological Pandemic

Hyman Induced Environmental degradation Deforestation

Technological Nuclear release

What is the Hazard?

What is the Vulnerability?

• The conditions determined by physical, social,

economic, and environmental factors or processes,

which increase the susceptibility of a community to the

impact of hazards.

• Vulnerable Sichuan:

o Unprepared people

o Non-resistant house & school building

o High-density population

o etc.

What is Risk?

• The probability of harmful consequences, or expected

losses (deaths, injuries, property, livelihoods,

economic activity disrupted or environment damaged)

resulting from interactions between natural or

human-induced hazards & vulnerable conditions.

• Risk = Hazards x Vulnerability

What is a Disaster ?

• A serious disruption of the functioning of a community

or a society causing widespread human, material,

economic or environmental losses which exceed the

ability of the affected community or society to cope

using its own resources.

Sichuan earthquake: Risk model

• Maybe Sichuan was not able to modify the

hazard part of the earthquake risk model, and

predict it precisely, BUT they could assess their

vulnerability conditions and reduced them!

• This has been the same experience in Bam &

Kashmir, Yogyakarta !

Risk awareness & Knowledge development

including education, training, research and

information are of the important fields of

action for Disaster Risk Reduction!

Just-in-Time Education

Let’s teach the communities right now !

Please read carefully at:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/faq/prepare.html

What we should do/do not

before,

during & after the earthquake?

Main Lesson Learned

So, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the

Richter scale is a big earthquake, but not

necessarily equal to a disaster. It is just

movement of the earth crust. Our

vulnerability has changed it to a disaster!!

References

We wish to express our warm thanks

to GDHNet faculties and all groups

that contributed their valuable

materials.