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REMEMBERING CHINA’S EARTHQUAKE DISASTER. Part I MAY 12, 2008. Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA. MAGNITUDE 8.0 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES CHINA’S SICHUAN PROVINCE. 2:30 PM LOCAL TIME MAY 12, 2008. WHAT HAPPENED?.
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REMEMBERING CHINA’S EARTHQUAKE DISASTER. Part I MAY 12, 2008 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA
MAGNITUDE 8.0 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES CHINA’S SICHUAN PROVINCE 2:30 PM LOCAL TIME MAY 12, 2008
WHAT HAPPENED? • The deadliest earthquake in China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. • 80 percent of the buildings in Beichuan County of Sichuan Province collapsed.
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY • More than 10,000 injuries. • Current estimate of dead at 12,000, but that number is expected to rise.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARTHQUAKE • Epicenter was located 100 km (60 miles) from Chengdu, the provincial capital, which is on edge of the Tibetan foothills and home to about 10 million people. • This earthquake occurred on a well known fault zone, which has generated destructive earthquakes in the past (e.g., on 25 August 1933).
COMPARISON WITH 1976 TANGSHAN EARTHQUAKE • This earthquake was more than 2 x larger than the July 28,1976 Tangshan earthquake, which caused at least 240,000 deaths. • But, the epicenter of the 1976 quake was directly under Tangshan.
WHAT HAPPENED IN CHANGDU? • Eyewitness account: “Traffic jams, no running water, power outages, everyone sitting in the streets, patients evacuated from hospitals, and cell phones inoperable.”
EMERGENCY RESOURCES • More than 20,000 military personnel ordered to assist in high-damage areas. • Estimates of dead at end of first day was 10,000, but that number is expected to rise.
SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE • Many buildings collapsed in the epicentral region. • Collapses included: 9 schools, one hospital, and one chemical plant. • 900 students were trapped in the rubble of a collapsed 3-story middle school.
SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE • Some roads were impassable because of landslides. • Hundreds were trapped in a collapsed chemical plant. • The collapse caused a spill of 80 tons of liquid ammonia.
GROUND SHAKING FELT OVER LONG DISTANCES • The ground shaking excited tall buildings in Beijing, 1550 km away, and caused them to sway for several minutes. • Tall buildings in Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam were also excited into motion. • Some fled; otherswere evacuated..
EARTHQUAKE SHOOK BUILDINGS IN BEIJING 1550 KM FROM EPICENTER