2008, China, Sichuan Earthquake

• Background:

  Sichuan- a mountainous region in the south-west
• Hazard:

  Earthquake

  magnitude 7.9

  Triggered Landslides
• Impact:

  Affected 45.5 million people in ten provinces and regions

  5 million were made homeless

  Injured 375,000

  dead and missing: 87,150  

  Cost US$125.6 billion 

  Thousands of schools fell down killing 5335 children
• Recovery and Preparedness:

  China’s government responded quickly

  Within hours 130,000 soldiers and relief workers were being sent to affected areas

  Troops parachuted or hiked into mountainous areas to reach survivors 

  Medical resources were quickly restored 

  Relocated people at risk of landslides 
• Recovery and Preparedness:

  Chinese banks wrote off the debts of survivors who didn't have insurance 

  Within two weeks, temporary roads, bridges and houses were built 

  Two years after the earthquake: 

  • 97% of the planned 29,704 reconstruction projects had started
  • 216 transport projects had been completed or started 
• Corrupt government officials often ignored building codes and accepted bribes to allow builders to take shortcuts.

  The poorly constructed buildings could not withstand the ground shaking and collapsed.
• Damage was concentrated in rural areas and small towns