Sichuan 2018- EQ2 Tectonics Flashcards
what was china’s GDP in 2019
107.27 billion dollars
what was china’s hdi in 2018
0.725
what was china’s hdi in 2008?
0.678
How many people lived in poverty in 2015
In 2015, approximately 55.75 million people in China lived below the national poverty line.
root cause
corrupt government officials ignored building codes.
dynamic pressures
- building codes ignored
- poorly constructed buildings could not withstand the ground shaking and collapsed
- lack of urban planning- leads to people being affected majorly by landslides
unsafe conditions
- weak rock went through liquificstion (secondary factor), this amplified the effects of the shaking
- steep relief in mountains
- lack of disaster preparedness for school buildings
- illegal housing built against building codes
hazard
earthquake struck Sichuan Province (western china) at 2;28pm on 12th may 2008
Tremors felt as far as in Beijing
IndoAustralian and Eurasian plate- convergent
what was the magnitude of the eq?
7.9 on the Richter scale
short term environmental impacts
2 chemical plants collapsed(shifting), killing hundreds and releasing toxic ammonia
medium term environmental impacts
- damage to dams, over 2000 weakened
- many rivers dammed by debris from landslides
- intense rainfall
- the quake lake tANJIASTAN above city threatened to burst its banks
- flooding occurred when landslides had blocked rivers.
- 34 damaged barrier/quake lakes formed and threatened to break- creating floods, and sweeping trees and vehicles into towns.
long term environmental impacts
- hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland dry
6 pandas escaped from enclosures at the Wolong national nature reserve after they were damaged, 2 pandas injured and one found dead.
short term economic impacts
communications near epicentre cut off
- airport temporarily closed
- power and water supply cut off (irrigation, technology etc.)
- a cargo train carrying 13 petrol tanks derailed in KIUI county, caught fire after the rail was distorted
medium term economic impacts
-danage to roads and bridges
- ruined irrigation systems
oil prices dropped over speculation the demand from china would fall
long term economic impacts
$86 billion worth of danage
- 32 million farm animals perished, over 3 million pigs
-5.36 million buildings collapsed
- in Beichuan, 80% of buildings in old town and 60% of buildings in new town were destroyed.
short term social impacts
-70k deaths
18k missing
- quake happened at high-risk area near major fault line (spacial importance)
11k killed in schools
5 million homeless
- 900 staff and pupils died in Juyruan middle school
- rescue efforts hampered by damage to roads- rescue and medical workers could not reach train for 3 days- more of trapped/oinjured dying
- communications such as telephones cut off
long term social impacts
- loss of factories (worlds leading manufacturers), HEP generation and tourist revenues felt for many years (interlinks with economy and environment too).
national/local responses
- government sent in 140k troops by boat, foot helicopter and parachute
- temporary camps quickly established around Sichuan province
-250k residents evacuated from downstream of the lake Tangjiashan (formed by a landslide) - 2k soldiers excavated the earth and used explosieves to widen the drainage channel (damaging to environment).
- SCHOOLS WERE THE ONY BUILDINGS TO COLLAPSE- complaints of poor building construction and quality
- government promised to crack down on any incompetent. corrupt school buildings
- a month later, 248/254 roads were repaired in the damaged area.
- 20 helicopters assigned to rescue and relief efforts immediately after the quake
- troops parachuted in to asses situation and others hiked on foot.
- army coordinated most of relief efforts (military strength, hic)
-n1 million small, temporary homes built to house the homeless- rebuilding hoped to be complete in 3 years. - Chinese government pledged a $10 million rebuilding fund and banks wrote off debts of survivors who did not have insurance.
International responses
-many foreign agreements and aid organisations sent aid
- lack of clean water, poor sanitation and cramped conditions led the worth health organisation to warn of a disease threat in the area.
- over $100 million donated to the Red Cross in a fortnite- much of this went into running the camps.
