Although some seasonal migration takes place annually in the region, post-earthquake migration occurred on a large scale, and was even encouraged by some NGOs. By contrast, the millions of people affected by the Sichuan earthquake, even those living in mountainous rural areas, stayed in close proximity to their destroyed homes.
In the days and months following the earthquake, many familiar disaster response tools and mechanisms were not utilised: there were no cluster meetings, and the Sphere Standards and other guidelines common in the humanitarian community were not in evidence.
In terms of coordination, after working side-by-side with my health bureau counterparts daily for nearly three months, I did not observe a single complaint about unwarranted time spent meeting donors or international aid groups though there were complaints about the unaccompanied relief material pouring into the provincial airport and bonded warehouses.
Unlike the direction eventually chosen by the government of Pakistan following the earthquake, the Chinese authorities did not immediately establish a parallel relief agency. These partnerships aimed to assist affected areas with resources, personnel and moral support for recovery. For example, Wenchuan County, the epicentre of the earthquake, was paired with wealthy Guangdong Province for long-term reconstruction assistance, including the provision of medical personnel to replace staff lost in the earthquake, and the training of Wenchuan-based staff in teaching hospitals in Guangdong.
The state-led response focused on efficiency in providing resources and services to the largest number of people possible.
However, this came at a price; for instance, in order to get food to everyone who needed it nutritionally deficient instant noodles were provided for days on end in some locations. Shelter could not be manufactured quickly enough despite temporary state seizure of suitable textile factories , resulting in up to 12 individuals sharing one family-size tent.
It is clear that action to protect against a secondary disaster did not come from abroad but from within China. Although the state deserves praise for its handling of the response, there are areas for improvement.
In the aftermath of every major recent natural disaster, from the Indian Ocean tsunami to the Pakistan earthquake and even the cyclone in Myanmar, a deluge of assistance from international non-governmental organisations has had a significant impact.
At the same time, however, greater efforts could have been made to enlist the support of specialised international agencies in specific areas, including emergency shelter, livelihoods and health.
In the health sector, for instance, very little attention was paid to psychosocial and mental health programmes, especially among elderly people, who may well have benefited from specialised support from the humanitarian community.
Finally, although the state deserves praise for its handling of the response, a lack of transparency in terms of specific data and details of the response have concealed many of these successes, as well as obscuring areas for improvement. Brian Hoyer is an independent consultant. His email address is brianhoyer hotmail. You must be logged in to post a comment. Download this issue. The role of affected states in disaster response. Ground-shaking from the relatively shallow earthquake in China leveled entire villages, burying thousands of people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings, including 4 million homes reportedly shattered.
The death toll exceeds 15, and could rise to 50, Due to its intensity and relatively shallow origin — just Earthquake engineers speculate the adobe and masonry buildings and homes, many of which were probably not reinforced with steel as building codes dictate, added to the earthquake damage, especially in more rural areas. LiveScience reported that an earthquake somewhat like China's on one of the faults in the Los Angeles area would be a " worst-case scenario ," leading to extensive damage.
Though extensive, engineers say the devastation would be much less than what occurred in China, due in part to better enforcement of building codes here. Yet they speculate that some buildings in the United States, such as warehouse-like structures and some Wal-Marts and Targets, may not be equipped to withstand intense ground-shaking.
West Coast cities have been vigilant about ensuring that buildings meet earthquake-safety codes, including retrofitting old homes and businesses. But in other parts of the country, where earthquakes can be powerful but rare, many buildings may not be prepared to hold up to powerful shaking, the engineers said. Experts can't predict with any certainty the level of damage that would occur if a China-like earthquake were to hit the United States.
However, they can make some speculations, based on the magnitude and ground-shaking. You just wouldn't see the level of damage, because they do really enforce the regulations, particularly in California. DesRoches said building codes in the United States and China dictate the minimum level of safety for constructed buildings with regard to natural disasters like earthquakes.
The main factor that causes structures to collapse, and therefore they must be braced against it, is ground-shaking. My ex-husband suddenly dragged my hands and we began to run, and the next minute I was buried," she told CNN. Her home was in Dujiangyan, one of the cities closest to the epicenter of the quake, which was so strong it thrust the ground up by almost 30 feet nine meters in some places and caused tremors miles 1, kilometers away in the Chinese capital Beijing.
After being trapped in the rubble for more than 10 hours, Li lost both her legs. Read More. The years since haven't been kind to her. Now walking with prosthetic limbs, Li said her husband left her due to her disability and she thought about ending her life. But she said the work of Chinese volunteers and her family had helped her. Now she works as a singer for tourists, assisted by a pension from the Chinese government.
Like Li, Chinese media coverage of the anniversary has focused on the positive -- articles commending the rebuilding or discussing how the disaster helped spark a flood of volunteerism. And Wenchuan County, the area hardest hit by the quake, has named the anniversary date as "Thanksgiving Day," according to state news agency Xinhua.
But critics say the coverage masks the deep scars the earthquake left on the region and its people. Photos from the site of the earthquake show not all the damage has been repaired 10 years later. Li Yingxia, Sichuan earthquake survivor, on her artificial limbs with her guitar prior to one of her public singing events.
The day the earth shook.
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