The Sichuan China Earthquake - Assignment Example

The Sichuan China Earthquake al Affiliation Introduction The Sichuan earthquake occurred on 12 May 2008, at approximately 2.28 pm and lasted for around two minutes. The magnitude of the earthquake was found to be 7.9 on the Ritcher Scale and it led to the death of over 70 000 people and around 18 000 missing within the time frame that the earthquake occurred. In the rural areas where the earthquake occurred, 80% of the buildings collapsed with communication systems being disrupted, roads and telephone lines. These effects were so profound to an extent that it affected every aspect of China’s lives and how they live today. The loss is estimated to have been approximately $75 million. This meant that every decision that country makes especially with regards to how they are supposed to be protecting the lives of the citizens has to take into consideration the potential effects of the physical location of these regions. This is an essay about the Sichuan Earthquake and it will discuss how the earthquake changed the Chinese way of living in every aspect of their lives, both positively and negatively. The earthquake was a big disaster to China but is also served to enhance the lives of the Chinese in majority of the areas that were affected. Occurrence of the Earthquake The earthquake occurred due to motion on a northeast striking fault or thrust on the northwestern margin of the Sichuan Basin. From the studies that were conducted afterwards, the earthquake’s epicenter and the focal mechanism showed consistencies with its occurrence as a result of the adjustment of the Longmenshan fault or even a tectonically related fault (Eidinger et al. 2012). It meant that the earthquake was as a reflection of the tectonic forces that resulted from the convergence of the crustal material that moved slowly from the Tibetan Plateau. It moved towards the West against the strong crust that was underlying the Sichuan Basin and Southeastern China. In a nutshell, the earthquake is said to have occurred as a result of the motion of a northeast striking reverse fault on the Northwestern margin of the Sichuan Basin which generated the forces that had been responsible for the movement of the tectonic plates. This was a reflection of the movement of forces that had moved from the convergence of crustal high material slowly moving from the high Tibetan plateau westwards. On a continental scale the seismicity that resulted from the central and the eastern and central Asia is due to the northward convergence of the Indian plate with the Eurasian Plate (Fu, Nilsson & Hu 2010). The velocity of the convergence is approximated to be around 50mm/y. This convergence was broadly accommodated by the uplift of the Asian highlands as well as the motion of the crustal material towards the east away from the high Tibetan plateau (Eidinger et al. 2014). The fact that the Sichuan region had experienced destructive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 in 1933 made the region to be susceptible to another earthquake although the intensity was not predictable. Despite the natural forces that could have resulted into the earthquake, there were also other factors that directly influenced the earthquake process such as the size of the population within the region and the nature of the buildings within the place. These are some of the factors that shaped the country’s response and conditions for the better in various aspects of the Chinese lives in as much as they also had to bear the loss of human lives Chinese history. The effect of the Sichuan Earthquake to the social conditions During the earthquake, several lives were lost and this disrupted their lives from many areas. Very many schools collapsed and majority of the houses were destroyed in the process leaving approximately four million homeless. Most of the farms and the crops were destroyed and being that it was a major source of income for them they fell into poverty. The number of the people who were affected was so big to an extent that those who lost their means of livelihood such as those who depended on the farms meant that a huge number would fall live in poor conditions. Besides the physical losses that the people of Sichuan incurred, the earthquake made people paranoid and they had to move away from Sichuan for fear of another earthquake (Miller, 2012). The fact that some of the people who had gone missing had not been found have forced some of the people to live in fear mentally, physically and emotionally. Some of them saw their family members die, others gone missing without a trace and others presumed dead. Those who survived would continue to be traumatized for the rest of their lives (Miller, 2012). Such are the conditions which changed their lives socially. Also, the schools that were buried in the earthquake and led to the loss of lives of several school children leaving families bereaving for their loved ones. It affected the population size in the region, considering that the Chinese have a policy of having once child per family. Such kinds of challenges have derailed social development since majority of the people are still struggling to deal with their past experiences from the earthquake. The social vulnerability of the Sichuan earthquake may have exposed to the people of Sichuan to a lot of danger but it also resulted into remarkable improvement from the people of China. The disaster response was improved and the people could be rest assured that in the event of such an occurrence again, the country is prepared to deal with the situation and save every person’s life. The national and international aid groups are able to start large scale operations immediately to assist the victims deal with their situations (Fok, 2010). Those who lost their families in the disaster also received compensation from the government meaning that in case such a disaster ever happens again the government will have to incur the costs of loss since they owe it to the people. However, this should not be substituted for the loss of lives that they experienced. The international assistance also helped in improving of diplomatic relations between countries such as the US and China, especially with regards to humanitarian assistance (Liu 2010). Social adjustments due to the Sichuan earthquake has also resulted into cultural adjustments in the lives of the Chinese people. The cultural effects of the earthquake The loss of lives from the earthquake created a situation in which the government and the people of China have to do all that they can to protect the lives of the citizens every time. This means that they government has to be held accountable for every problem that is likely to arise and they have to show accountability for the decisions that they make. For instance, it has become a norm for the constructors to ensure that they build structures that are able to withstand earthquakes suppose they occur and that there is compliance to such rules (Burchett et al. 2012). These structures also have to exhibit mechanisms for which they are able to detect earthquakes, allowing for response in the shortest time possible. On a social level, people have learnt to value each and every person’s life therefore creating a culture in which the citizens demand that the government is held accountable for every decision that they make regarding the safety of the people. Also, people have created a time for mourning and reflecting on the lives that they lost from the disaster and as a sign of respect to them. They celebrate their lives and they also reflect on the lessons that they derived from the experience. This whole process is what has resulted into a culture in which the people of China demand accountability and assurance that any structure that the government or any constructor puts up anywhere is able to protect those who live inside from any unexpected natural occurrences. The effects of the earthquake will continue to be experienced in the lives of the people long after the reconstruction process begins. This is because those who area affected with the earthquake will continue to feel the lingering effect of the disaster. The problems are entangled in their social position related problems which majority of the people have had to contend with. The economic impact and lessons from the earthquake Accountability on the part of the government and the people means that Sichuan had to put up with very many losses that affected their economic status. As aforementioned, the total loss from the earthquake has been summed up to approximately $4 billion. The earthquake damaged majority of the China’s infrastructure therefore causing a huge debt in China’s economic development (Lin & Ren, 2010). This implies that huge amount of money that could have been used for other developmental projects have to be set aside to reconstruct these regions. It also reduced tourism since people will not go there for some period of time given the fact that it will be filled with debris, chaos and corpses. Some of the regions that were affected by the earthquake which are located in the interiors of China will mean that more will be invested to rebuild these regions since they are not accessible. Inflation was already a serious problem in China at the time and the earthquake made the situation worse since the government had to reduce spending elsewhere to oversee the construction process of the region that was affected. It also discouraged investment in the region since the focus was more on the restoration efforts and there was also the need to divert expenses to the save the humanitarian crisis. Investors could not also risk their money given the huge risk that came with the prevailing economic conditions then. Inflation rate went up especially given that the region is the source of pork and grain, which are two of the strongest inflationary forces in the region (Lin & Ren, 2010). The transportation difficulties resulted into an increasing inflation rate in the region. This meant that there was unemployment in the region especially with regards to the industries that were responsible for the economic prosperity of the region due to their collapse. The earthquake also created a situation in which there would be a slow supply of food and a fall in the prices to cater for the humanitarian crisis that the region experiences. The unemployment levels will also increase the region’s inflation rate given that the families affected will to have to take time to reestablish themselves economically. Ecological factors from the earthquake The effects of the earthquake have a range of influences depending on the range of factors that could have caused the earthquake. Some of these factors include the distance of the region from the epicenter and the local ground conditions. For those regions which are close to the epicenter the effect of the earthquake tremor will depend on the size and magnitude of the earthquake. Specifically, in this situation, a magnitude of 7.9 is what caused the massive damage with most of the buildings collapsing. The most damaging effect of the earthquake was the physical disruption that it caused to the region. The infrastructure was destroyed and there was disruption of communication lines within the region. The earthquake flattened close to four fifths of the buildings in the region with entire villages and mountains being destroyed and majority of the schools collapsing. The displacement from the disaster did not leave out the animals living in the region especially for the pandas. The region is known to be a place for majority of the wild pandas which is considered an endangered species and a treasure to the Chinese wildlife. The animals had to suffer the loss of fragmentation and habitat loss in the South Mishan region, which is adjacent to the earthquake’s epicenter. The forests are the main vegetation zones that the animals feed from and so the fact that majority of the area was covered in bare land meant that the animals would soon be wiped out by dying from starvation (Foleger & Library Congress, 2008). Majority of the habitat areas had been fragmented into smaller disconnected patches. The earthquake affected the nature of the habitats to the pandas based on four factors: the slope of the region, aspect, the position on the mountainside and its proximity to water bodies. All these factors affected the quality of the habitats to the pandas implying that the animals had to seek refuge elsewhere since the earthquake affected the productivity of the forests. Generally, the earthquake had a devastating effect on the tree and shrub community in the region on which the Wolong Nature Reserve. Technological processes The disruption of communication lines within the region meant that there was low connectivity due to technological challenges that the region had experienced. Connectivity in this case meant that there was network connectivity which facilitates information transfer across the region. The drivers of new technology were disrupted and this what reduced the communication links across the region. The drivers of new technology in this case refers to the network availability, mobility or awareness, usability and the ability to operate flexibly within the region. The earthquake led to the movement of physical structures that interfered with the operations of all these factors of technology within the region. One of the operations that was grossly interfered with was the rescue process since the satellites could not capture some of the regions. As a result, they had to make use of helicopters to identify those who were trapped under the rubbles. The good thing about the disruption to the physical conditions of the place is that there had to be adjustment of the factors that led to the growth of technology. This meant that there had to be better ways of improving the technology of the region to suit the changing scenario of the region. The imbalance can only be sorted if the people who are responsible for the technological advancements can come up with facilities that are resistant to the earthquakes or better they can determine the possibility of an earthquake occurring before it happens. Disaster response after the earthquake The damages that were incurred from the earthquake had profound effects on every activity and every person’s life within the region. It meant that there country had to position itself to respond to disaster in every possible way as soon as they were detected. This meant that the country had to position itself so as to have some long term recovery planning effects to suit the changing times due to the effects of the earthquake. In the first place, they had to have a good understanding of the position of the region so as to know the possible effects of the tectonic movements to the region’s structures. It meant that the government had to come up with policies that are aimed at restoring the activities of the region economically, physically and socially. Some of the policies that were considered the aftermath of the earthquake include the recognition that the ecosystem services provide grounds for sustainable reconstruction and the reduction of any future vulnerabilities arising from the tremors of the earthquake. To guarantee the success of such a strategy or policy, there has to be continuous monitoring of the place in terms of the ecological and the socioeconomic factors so as to identify any potential effects of the adjustment to tectonic forces. Also, the management strategy has to ensure that there are management efforts to suit the changing changes in case they arise. There is also the aspect of China improving on their disaster response mechanisms. The earthquake was an eye opener into several issues such as the speed with which people can receive humanitarian assistance whenever the need arises. It helped to clearly establish the rule and the mechanisms that can be used to alleviate such conditions whenever they arise and save as much lives as possible, without risking the lives of those who take part in the rescue process. Besides better disaster response mechanisms, there were also questions pertaining to the environmental disruption due to the effects of the earthquake. One of the questions was whether the large water reservoir that is located close to the center of the epicenter could have triggered the earthquake tremors because of its weight. There were also questions pertaining to the construction of the schools that had collapsed and buried many school going children in the region. To some, the official death toll number they suspect to have been much higher that what they were supposedly told. Conclusion The aftermath of the earthquake had far reaching effects on the activities and lives of the people in the region. There was disruption to the social lives. Most of the displaced families and the loss of lives interfered with the nature of the region. This meant that they had to begin a new life altogether and it meant a lot of time to recover, especially for those who were directly affected by the earthquake effects. The social costs of the earthquake made a huge adjustment to the people in the region and so they had to adjust to the changed conditions. Similarly, the economic impact of the earthquake also meant that there had to efforts to restore the economic situation back to life. For the Chinese government, they had to set aside funds that would have been used for development purposes to restore the economic stability of the region. They had to ensure that there were infrastructural plans that would connect the region to the other places in China, which would eventually boost the economic growth or the region. Generally, the earthquake greatly affected the nature of activities in the region but it was also a source of better living standards. References Asian Development Bank. (2008). Peoples Republic of China providing emergency response to Sichuan earthquake. Manila: Asian Development Bank. Burchett, J., Vogler, S., & Le, F. D. (2012). Earthquake escape. 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The great Wenchuan earthquake of 2008: A photographic atlas of surface rupture and related disaster. Beijing: Higher Education Press. MILLER, J. O. S. H. U. A. L. (2012). Psychosocial Capacity Building in Response to Disasters. NEW YORK: Columbia University Press. Read More