Successful Earthquake Mitigation in Qinglong County during the Great Tangshan Earthquake: Lessons for Hurricane Katrina in the United States

Abstract

More than 246,000 people were killed in the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake. In Qinglong County, despite the collapse of 180,000 buildings, no deaths were attributable to the earthquake and its aftershocks. The case of Qinglong County illustrates excellent coordination among public administrators, scientists and citizens and features pro-active policies, local government initiative, thorough implementation, delegation, information sharing, and citizen participation. These lessons are applied to the response to Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005.