ADBC Branch in BeiChuan after earthquake

Natural disasters in China are the result of several different

natural hazards A natural hazard is a natural phenomenon that might have a negative effect on humans and other animals, or the environment. Natural hazard events can be classified into two broad categories: geophysical and biological. An example of the distincti ...

that affect the country according to its particular geographic and geologic features affecting both humans and animals.

Perception of disasters

Natural disasters reveal the traditional view of disasters as

divine retribution Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or everyone by a deity in response to some action. Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted punishment upon previous inhabitants of their land, causing t ...

: ''tian zai'' (天災), literally 'heavenly disaster'. In ancient beliefs, natural disasters were seen as Heaven's response to immoral human behaviour, whereby the conduct of different individuals carried different weights. While the behaviour of common people ranked last, the actions of bureaucrats had a greater effect. Given that in Imperial China the emperor's behaviour was believed to be the most important, popular belief was that the emperor should attempt to prevent disasters by ensuring his conduct was in following with moral codes – and if a disaster should occur, he was responsible for addressing the consequences. According to the Overseas Development Institute, the state-led nature of humanitarian aid in today's China traces back to these traditional beliefs. Chinese believed that natural disasters would foretell the end of a dynasty or the death of a great leader. This concept of cosmic linkage between natural disasters and human conduct was radically rejected at the height of Maoist years when nature was represented as ‘an enemy to be overcome, an adversary to be brought to heel’. Propaganda posters were produced with the slogan, "Earthquakes cannot frighten us, the people will certainly conquer nature."

Types

Earthquakes

The

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

established a ''National Earthquake Administration'' in 1971 to take charge of monitoring, research, and emergency response for earthquakes. It was renamed

China Earthquake Administration The China Earthquake Administration (CEA), () is mandated by the ''Law of the People's Republic of China on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters of PRC'' to enforce the earthquake administration in the nation under the administrati ...

(CEA) in 1998, mandated by the ''Earthquake prevention and Disaster Reduction Act of PRC'' under the State Council. Each provincial, autonomous regional, and centrally administrated municipal government also has its own earthquake administration that is under the direction of CEA.

Famine

Among the famines in China, the worst ever was the

Great Chinese Famine The Great Chinese Famine () was a period between 1959 and 1961 in the history of the People's Republic of China (PRC) characterized by widespread famine. Some scholars have also included the years 1958 or 1962. It is widely regarded as the dead ...

Fire

Flood

1851–1855 Yellow River floods The 1851-1855 Yellow River floods resulted in a change of the Yellow River's course, thereafter emptying into the Bohai Sea rather than into the Yellow Sea.Fei, J., Lai, ZP., He, HM. et al. Limnology (2012) 13: 117. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201- ...

1931 China floods The 1931 China floods, or the 1931 Yangtze–Huai River floods, occurred from June to August 1931 in China, hitting major cities such as Wuhan, Nanjing and beyond, which eventually culminated into a dike breach along Lake Gaoyou on 25 August 1 ...

* 1935 Yangtze flood *

Eastern China flood of 1991 In the summer of 1991, continuous, heavy rainfall in Eastern China caused rivers and water loggings to overflow and flood the area, leading to the Chinese government requesting international aid. Background Large amounts of rainfall beginning on ...

* Shalan Town flood of 2005 * 2007 Shandong coal mine flood *

2009 Luoding flood The 2009 Luoding flood () was a major flood that occurred in Luoding, Guangdong in the People's Republic of China on the week of September 17, 2009.TimesofIndia.com.TimesofIndia.com" ''Seven die as Typhoon Koppu hits China.'' Retrieved on 2009-10- ...

* 2010 China floods * 2011 China floods *

July 2012 Beijing flood In a twenty-hour period on July 21, 2012, a flash flood hit the city of Beijing in the People's Republic of China. Within a day of the flooding, 56,933 people had been evacuated, while the floodwaters killed 79 people, causing at least 10 billion ...

* 2013 China–Russia floods *

2013 Southwest China floods In July 2013, much of southwest China experienced heavy rainfall that led to widespread flooding. Sichuan was the hardest hit. At least 73 people were killed as a result of the flooding, with 180 people missing. An estimated 6 million lives were ...

2017 China floods The 2017 China floods began in early June 2017. More than 14.9017 million people in 10 provinces and municipalities and regions were affected, especially the southern and central provinces and regions of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, ...

2020 China floods In early June 2020, heavy rains caused by the regional rainy season led to floods severely affecting large areas of southern China including the Yangtze basin and its tributaries. Rains and floods extended to central and eastern China during ...

* 2021 China floods * 2022 China floods

Plague

Emergency management

The National Disaster Reduction Center
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Chinese Government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...

engaged in information services and supporting decisions on various natural disasters. It provides reference for disaster-management departments in their decision-making and technical support for China's disaster-reduction undertakings by way of collecting and analyzing disaster information, assessing disasters and emergency relief, and analyzing and studying disasters using such advanced technology as

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Ear ...

References

External links

National Disaster Reduction Center (NDRC)
PRC
Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA)
PRC

PRC government web portal {{DEFAULTSORT:Natural Disasters In China