China (2008)

Question 1

Where was the earthquake’s epicenter and what magnitude was it?

Answer 1

Magnitude 7.9 earthquake in a mountainous region, sothwest China.

Question 2

Root Causes

Answer 2

Huge inequalities in wealth regionally across the country.
Mountainous areas have poor infastructure and are inaccessible.

Question 3

Context

Answer 3

HDI: 0.716
High levels of corruption. People looking to make as much profit as possible no matter what, leads to expensive building regulations not being enforced.

Question 4

Social impacts:

Answer 4

Thousands of schools collapsed, killling over 5000 children.
5 million people became homeless.

Question 5

Economic impacts:

Answer 5

Lots of structural damage.
Ignored builidng codes made clear by all of the building collapses - revealing corruption within the government.

Question 6

Environmental impacts:

Answer 6

Lots of landslides were triggered.

Question 7

Immediate response:

Answer 7

130,000 soldiers and relief workers were dispatched within hours. Troops parachuted or hiked to reach isolated mountain areas.

People in danger from landslides were safely relocated.

Medical systems were quickly restored, helped avoid disease outbreaks.

Question 8

Responses

Answer 8

Temporary homes, roads, and bridges were built within 2 weeks.
Government pledged $10 billion for rebuilding works.
Chinese banks wrote off debts for any survivors without insurance.