Disaster Management in China: Countering Nature's Challenges
Disaster Management in China: Countering Nature's Challenges
China's Yunnan province recently experienced a 6.1 earthquake which has left over 589 persons dead. Search and rescue teams have been combing the isolated mountain community on the lookout for any survivors. The August 3 earthquake has caused serious injuries to nearly 2, 400 people in what is counted as the deadliest tremor experienced by China in 4 years.
The site of the earthquake was the mountainous Yunnan farming region in Ludaian county and one of the worst hit towns where rescues are being carried out is Longtoushan. A senior colonel of the PLA indicated that some survivors may be found here.
The rapid increase in the death toll from 410 to 589 has been identified as having occurred because rescuers have now arrived in places where they had previously not been able to contact anyone before. Landslides and bouts of heavy rains are hindering rescue efforts. The quake has occurred in such an isolated area that rescue and search efforts have been hampered in a very big way as a result of this. Earthquakes are not rare in China particularly this region .
In the year 1970, about 15, 000 people lost their lives in a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. In the month of September in 2012, series of earthquakes here left 81 people dead. It was in May 2008 that a powerful quake in the Sichuan provine left 90, 000 people dead.
What made the quake eevn more deadly was the fact that many of the houses in this region are made of wood and bricks or plaster making it liable for them to collapse more quickly in the event of such a disaster. Along with a fairly dense population and the shallow epicentre of the quake at Longtoushan , the combination has proved to be deadly and ended in tragic consequences for the Asian superpower.
About 12 thousand houses were destroyed and another 30 , 000 homes have been damaged. Blood donation drives are being organised and the Chinese Red Cross has also issued appeals for the people to help those in need following this disaster. China Earthquake Networks Center reported the quake as a 6.5-magnitude event.
Volunteer rescuers have been asked to stay away as they are likely to cause communication obstacles and hamper rescue efforts. School dormitories also collapsed as a result of the earthquake as the quality of construction of these could not withstand the earthquake .Proactive approaches to such natural disasters can save many lives.
Efforts should be made to improve the quality of housing and construction so that less causalities result. With such disasters causing loss of both lives and livelihood, the death toll can be significantly lessened if a more proactive approach towards disaster management is followed across the world especially in such disaster prone areas.
