LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS PART III D: CHINA LANDSLIDES

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LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS PART
III D CHINALANDSLIDES
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster
Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA 

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NATURAL HAZARDS THAT PLACE CHINAS COMMUNITIES AT
RISK
FLOODS
GOAL DISASTER RESILIENCE
TYPHOONS
EARTHQUAKES
ENACT AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES HAVING HIGH
BENEFIT/COST FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
LANDSLIDESS
DROUGHT EPISODES
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
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CHINAS COMMUNITIES
DATA BASES AND INFORMATION
HAZARDS GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN
UP AFTERSHOCKS
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TOWARDS LANDSLIDE DISASTER RESILIENCE
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MAP OF CHINAS PROVINCES
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LANDSLIDES

• LARGE VOLUME LANDSLIDES OCCUR IN ASSOCIATION WITH
  AN EARTHQUAKES GROUND SHAKING OR A TYPHOONS
  RAINFALL

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M8.0 BEICHUAN EARTHQUAKE GENERATED LARGE VOLUME
LANDLIDES

• 230 PM LOCAL TIME
• MAY 12, 2008

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BEICHUAN, CHINA EARTHQUAKE MAY 12, 2008
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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).

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CHANGDU, 100 KM FROM EPICENTER
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COMPARISON WITH 1976 TANGSHAN EARTHQUAKE

• The Beichuan earthquake was more than 2 x larger
  than the July 28,1976 Tangshan earthquake, which
  caused 255,000 deaths.

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EMERGENCY RESOURCES

• More than 20,000 military personnel were ordered
  immediately to assist in high-damage areas.
• The number was increased substantially to deal
  with the earthquake lakes.

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SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF THE LANDSLIDES

• Some roads were impassable because of landslides,
  which hindered search and rescue,---
• but, worst of all, 69 unique earthquake lakes
  were created by the landslides in mountainous
  regions.

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CAUSES OF DAMAGE
SITING AND BUILDING ON UNSTABLE SLOPES
SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO FALLS
SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO TOPPLES
SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO SPREADS
LANDSLIDES
SOIL AND ROCK SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOWS
CASE HISTORIES
PRECIPITATION THAT TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE
SHAKING
GROUND SHAKING THAT TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE
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LANDSLIDE JINGXIU
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LANDSLIDE HANWANG
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LANDSLIDE MIANZHU
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69 EARTHQUAKE LAKES

• Created by the quake-induced landslides

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ONE OF 69 "QUAKE LAKES" BEI HE RIVER DAMMED
BY LANDSLIDE DEBRIS
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DAYS 14-17 CHINA EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS NOW HAVING
TO COPE WITH THREAT OF FLOODS FROM 69
EARTHQUAKE LAKES
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DAYS 14-17 GOVERNMENT MAKES RISK REDUCTION ON 69
"QUAKE LAKES" A TOP PRIORITY

• Sixty-nine Quake Lakes created in mountainous
  areas by the debris from landslides appeared
  ready to burst their banks, and continuing
  rainfall was exacerbating the threat.

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29 million in emergency funds and increased
military resources were allocated for the
priority effort.
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DAYS 14-17 GOVERNMENT PLANS EVACUATIONS TO
REDUCE RISK IF A "QUAKE LAKE" SHOULD BURST

• Authorities announced plans to evacuate more than
  a million people in anticipation of failure of
  the rock-and-mud embankments.

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• EVACUATION CHALLENGE
• Evacuation would have to be accomplished within
  one to four hours, the time for the wall of water
  to reach and inundate scores of cities and rural
  villages that were already devastated.

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BEICHUAN 3.3 KM (2 MI) DOWN-STREAM FROM A
"QUAKE LAKE"
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LESSONS LEARNED FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

• ALL NATURAL HAZARDS
• CAPACITY FOR INTELLIGENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE IS
  ESSENTIAL FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE.

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FLEEING POSSIBLE FLOODING
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EVACUATIONS TO ESCAPE FLOODING THREAT
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EVACUATING
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EVERYONE GOES
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THIRTY GIANT EARTHMOVERS FLOWN IN to QUAKE LAKES
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SOLDIERS dispatched to CREATe DIVERSION
CHANNELS
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goal A DIVERSION CHANNEL IN FIVE DAYS OR LESS
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EVERY HOUR IS IMPORTANT
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TANGJIASHAN, LARGEST OF 69 "QUAKE LAKES"
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RISING WATER IN TANGJIASHAN CAUSES EVACUATION OF
YULI, MAY 31
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NO DAMAGE TO THREE GORGES DAM1,000 KM AWAY
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SOLDIERS REPAIR CRACKS IN ZIPINGPU DAMDUJIANGYAN
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LESSONS LEARNED FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

• ALL NATURAL HAZARDS
• CAPACITY FOR RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION IS
  ESSENTIAL FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE.