1. REMEMBERING CHINA’S EARTHQUAKE DISASTER. Part I MAY 12, 2008 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

2. MAGNITUDE 8.0 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES CHINA’S SICHUAN PROVINCE 2:30 PM LOCAL TIME MAY 12, 2008

4. WHAT HAPPENED? The deadliest earthquake in China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. 80 percent of the buildings in Beichuan County of Sichuan Province collapsed.

5. MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY More than 10,000 injuries. Current estimate of dead at 12,000, but that number is expected to rise.

6. 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).

7. 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.

8. 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.”

9. CHANGDU, 100 KM FROM EPICENTER

10. CHANGDU: DEBRIS

11. CHANGDU: RUPTURED WATER PIPE

12. CHANDU: PREMIER WEN JIABAO PLANS RELIEF; MAY 12

13. 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.

14. CHANGDU STUDENTS FEAR AFTERSHOCKS: MAY 12

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. DUJIANGYAN: COLLAPSED BUILDING

18. COLLAPSED HOME: DUJIANGYAN

19. IMMEDIATE SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORTS

20. VICTIM OF SCHOOL COLLAPSE RECEIVING MEDICAL ATTENTION

21. DONATING BLOOD

22. INJURED MAN RUSHED TO HOSPITAL

23. BUT HOSPITAL IN FUYANG: WAS EVACUATING PATIENTS

24. 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; others were evacuated..

25. NO DAMAGE TO THREE GORGES DAM:1,000 KM AWAY

27. BUILDINGS SHOOK IN BEIJING; 1550 KM FROM EPICENTER

28. EVACUATION IN BANGKOK, THAILAND