Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies

The Wenchuan County earthquake of 2008 was the most severe earthquake, as measured in sheer magnitude, in the history of the People’s Republic of China. Killing almost 90,000 people and creating economic losses of 845 billion yuan (US$132 billion), the earthquake also elicited a vigorous response fr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Chen, Kevin Z., Zhang, Qiang, Hsu, Claire
Formato: Libro
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145130
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author Chen, Kevin Z.
Zhang, Qiang
Hsu, Claire
author_browse Chen, Kevin Z.
Hsu, Claire
Zhang, Qiang
author_facet Chen, Kevin Z.
Zhang, Qiang
Hsu, Claire
author_sort Chen, Kevin Z.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The Wenchuan County earthquake of 2008 was the most severe earthquake, as measured in sheer magnitude, in the history of the People’s Republic of China. Killing almost 90,000 people and creating economic losses of 845 billion yuan (US$132 billion), the earthquake also elicited a vigorous response from various government agencies, private businesses, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The ways these actors’ responses to the earthquake proved effective in distributing appropriate aid to those in need and the areas where the actors’ earthquake response needs to be improved are discussed and analyzed in Earthquake Lessons from China: Coping and Rebuilding Strategies. The authors identify three earthquake responses that proved helpful to earthquake-affected communities: the use of a pair-wise aid policy, in which a donor province or city is assigned to give aid to a particular earthquake-affected area; expanded NGO and volunteer involvement; and various kinds of public financial aid to earthquake-affected households. They also pinpoint areas that need further work: public aid specifically for home reconstruction, which has been inadequate, and the capacity of local communities to manage their own disaster responses, which is too low. Perhaps most important, the authors found that the high levels of NGO and volunteer involvement in disaster response should be expanded and sustained beyond what they were in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake. The authors believe that increased nonpublic sector involvement can not only improve the level of response to natural disasters but also foster a robust civil society and grassroots democracy in China.
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spelling CGSpace1451302025-11-06T03:59:21Z Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies Chen, Kevin Z. Zhang, Qiang Hsu, Claire natural disasters earthquakes emergency relief disaster relief The Wenchuan County earthquake of 2008 was the most severe earthquake, as measured in sheer magnitude, in the history of the People’s Republic of China. Killing almost 90,000 people and creating economic losses of 845 billion yuan (US$132 billion), the earthquake also elicited a vigorous response from various government agencies, private businesses, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The ways these actors’ responses to the earthquake proved effective in distributing appropriate aid to those in need and the areas where the actors’ earthquake response needs to be improved are discussed and analyzed in Earthquake Lessons from China: Coping and Rebuilding Strategies. The authors identify three earthquake responses that proved helpful to earthquake-affected communities: the use of a pair-wise aid policy, in which a donor province or city is assigned to give aid to a particular earthquake-affected area; expanded NGO and volunteer involvement; and various kinds of public financial aid to earthquake-affected households. They also pinpoint areas that need further work: public aid specifically for home reconstruction, which has been inadequate, and the capacity of local communities to manage their own disaster responses, which is too low. Perhaps most important, the authors found that the high levels of NGO and volunteer involvement in disaster response should be expanded and sustained beyond what they were in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake. The authors believe that increased nonpublic sector involvement can not only improve the level of response to natural disasters but also foster a robust civil society and grassroots democracy in China. 2016-06-13 2024-06-11T14:09:12Z 2024-06-11T14:09:12Z Book https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145130 en https://cn.ifpri.org/archives/4165 Open Access application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Chen, Kevin Z.; Zhang, Qiang; Hsu, Claire, eds. 2016. Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896298743.
spellingShingle natural disasters
earthquakes
emergency relief
disaster relief
Chen, Kevin Z.
Zhang, Qiang
Hsu, Claire
Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies
title Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies
title_full Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies
title_fullStr Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies
title_full_unstemmed Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies
title_short Earthquake lessons from China: Coping and rebuilding strategies
title_sort earthquake lessons from china coping and rebuilding strategies
topic natural disasters
earthquakes
emergency relief
disaster relief
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145130
work_keys_str_mv AT chenkevinz earthquakelessonsfromchinacopingandrebuildingstrategies
AT zhangqiang earthquakelessonsfromchinacopingandrebuildingstrategies
AT hsuclaire earthquakelessonsfromchinacopingandrebuildingstrategies