Sichuan Earthquake Research Articles

Earthquake Ruins and Post-disaster Tourism after the Sichuan Earthquake in China

Earthquake Ruins and Post-disaster Tourism after the Sichuan Earthquake in China

Earthquake Ruins and Post-disaster Tourism after the Sichuan Earthquake in China

Earthquake Ruins and Post-disaster Tourism after the Sichuan Earthquake in China

Research on the Regional Characteristics of Coastal Architectural Style and Demonstration of Marine Architectural Design

Zhang, J. and Lu, X., 2019 Research on the regional characteristics of coastal architectural style and demonstration of marine architectural design. In: Li, L.; Wan, X.; and Huang, X. (eds.), Recent Developments in Practices and Research on Coastal Regions: Transportation, Environment and Economy. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 98, pp. 199–202. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Because of its unique structural characteristics, marine buildings have different seismic performances from modern buildings. On the basis of the mechanical performance and damage pattern of the horizontal earthquake in Sichuan, the study of regional characteristics and the design of ocean architecture are given. The style of the column frame is regarded as “swing column” and the style of the crown layer as “shear-bend bar.” According to the style of coastal buildings and the overall distribution of ancient buildings, the different styles of coastal buildings are deduced from the component test and the theory of geomorphology. The calculation method and application scope of each parameter under force state are compared with the results of building test with regional characteristics. The results show that the proposed study of regional characteristics and marine architecture design can better reflect the coastal architecture style under earthquakes.

A bi-level stochastic optimization model for multi-commodity rebalancing under uncertainty in disaster response

In planning for a large-scale disaster, potential relief centers to accommodate evacuees need to be identified. The quantities of emergency commodities are prepared and stocked at relief centers in advance for possible disasters. In the event of a disaster, due to the different disaster severities and uncertain environment, some relief centers inevitably have surplus commodities, whereas some relief centers are still unmet. To use any surplus commodities effectively, a multi-commodity rebalancing process is necessary to rebalance the commodities among relief centers. However, various uncertainties make the multi-commodity rebalancing process extremely challenging, including uncertain demand and transportation-network availability. By recognizing those practical uncertainties, a bi-level stochastic mixed-integer nonlinear programming model is proposed to formulate this multi-commodity rebalancing problem. The upper-level objective is to minimize the total dissatisfaction level, which is measured by the expected total weighted unsatisfied demand, and the lower-level objective is to minimize the expected total transportation time. Finally, a case study on the Great Sichuan Earthquake in China is implemented; their results show that the proposed model facilitates effective decision-making in the practice of multi-commodity rebalancing.

Ownership identity and corporate donations: evidence from a natural experiment in China

PurposeTaking advantage of the 2008 Sichuan Great Earthquake as a natural experiment, the purpose of this paper is to examine the motives and effects of corporate donations by focusing on how firm ownership identity as the first-order governance mechanism affects the motives and effects of disaster relief donations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct regressions and market event studies, and use matching to address the confounding effects of differences in firm characteristics.FindingsThe authors hypothesize that private firms that are better governed than state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are more likely to donate for value maximization. Consistent with this, the authors find that private firms are more likely to donate to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and donate more than SOEs. The effects of secondary governance variables in the donation determinant models (e.g. board independence and managerial ownership) are more consistent with the value maximization argument. While short-term market reaction to donation announcement is not significant for private firms, it is lower when SOEs make a large donation. Consistent with the hypothesis, the authors find that over the 24–36 months following the donation, private donors realize a higher abnormal stock return.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to the debate over the merits/costs of corporate donations and helps better understand how SOEs and private firms (particularly family-owned firms) differ in their governance and financial decision-making.Practical implicationsBoth managers from private firms and SOEs can use the findings of this study to better guide their donation and other philanthropic decisions.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine both the motives and effects of corporate donations by both private and SOEs taking advantage of the 2008 Sichuan, thereby significantly extending prior related studies.

Decreasing Trend of Geohazards Induced by the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake Inferred from Time Series NDVI Data

The occurrence of aftershocks and geohazards (landslides, collapses, and debris flows) decreases with time following a major earthquake. The 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan, China, provides the opportunity to characterize the subsequent spatiotemporal evolution of geohazards. Following the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, the incidence of geohazards first increased sharply, representing a “post-earthquake effect”, before starting to decrease. We compared the spatial distribution of the area affected by vegetation damage (AVD) triggered by large and medium-scale geohazards (LMG). We studied the interval prior to the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake (2001–2007), the co-seismic period (2008), and the post-earthquake interval (2009–2016) and characterized the trend of decreasing geohazards at a macro scale. In vegetated areas, geohazards often seriously damage the vegetation, resulting in pronounced contrasts with the surrounding surface in terms of color tone, texture, morphology, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) which are evident in remote sensing images (RSI). In principle, it is possible to use the strong positive correlation between AVD and geohazards to determine indirectly the resulting vegetation and to monitor its spatiotemporal evolution. In this study we attempted to characterize the process of geohazard evolution in the region affected by the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake during 2001–2016. Our approach was to analyze the characteristics of areas with reduced vegetation coverage caused by LMG. Our principal findings are as follows: (i) Before the Wenchuan Earthquake (during 2001–2007), there was no evidence for a linear increase in the number of LMG with time; thus, the geological environment was relatively stable and the geohazards were mainly induced by rainfall events. (ii) The 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake was the main cause of a surge in geohazards in 2008, with the characteristics of seismogenic faults and strong aftershocks determining the spatial distribution of geohazards. (iii) Following the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake (during 2009–2016) the incidence of geohazards exhibited an oscillating pattern of attenuation, with a decreasing trend of higher-grade seismic intensity. The intensity of geohazards was related to rainfall and seismogenic faults, and also to the number, magnitude and depth of new earthquakes following the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. Our results provide a new perspective on the temporal pattern of attenuation of seismic geohazards, with implications for disaster prevention and mitigation and ecological restoration in the areas affected by the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake.

Financial Preparation, Disaster Experience, and Disaster Risk Perception of Rural Households in Earthquake-Stricken Areas: Evidence From the Wenchuan and Lushan Earthquakes in China's Sichuan Province.

Sichuan is a province in Southwest China that is famous worldwide for its earthquakes. However, few quantitative studies in China have probed the correlations between rural households’ financial preparation, disaster experience, and disaster-risk perception. Using survey data of 327 rural households from four areas stricken by the Wenchuan Earthquake and Lushan Earthquake in Sichuan, the ordinary least square (OLS) method was used to quantitatively explore the correlations between these three factors. The results show that rural households’ total family cash income, asset diversity, and whether rural households can borrow money from relatives and friends whenever there is a catastrophe such as an earthquake are significantly negatively correlated with the probability of disaster occurrence. Asset diversity and whether rural households can borrow money from banks whenever there is a catastrophe such as an earthquake are significantly positively related to the severity of disaster occurrence. The severity of residents’ disaster experience is not significantly correlated with the probability of disaster occurrence, but is significantly positively related to the severity of the disaster. The research results can provide useful enlightenment for the improvement of financial preparedness and disaster risk management for rural households in earthquake-stricken areas.

Bringing Politics Back in Charitable Giving: Evidence From Donations After China’s Sichuan Earthquake

Do non-Westerners donate differently? Drawing on a unique survey after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, this article reports some empirical findings about Chinese donation behavior. Our empirical analysis confirms the importance of various socioeconomic factors in charitable giving. What distinguishes the Chinese case from other societies is the role of politics. Political attitudes affect how people donate: Less trustful individuals and less dependent communities do not embrace state-centered charity enthusiastically. Our research expands the spatial coverage of the charity study that is dominated by experiences and practices from European and North American countries. To generate hypotheses about political attitudes, we develop a simple political model of charity. Placing politicians’ survival motivation at the center opens up new inquiries that are underexplored by current literature. It also inspires further research into comparative institutional designs of charity across national boundaries.

Bringing Politics Back in Charitable Giving: Evidence From Donations After China’s Sichuan Earthquake

Do non-Westerners donate differently? Drawing on a unique survey after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, this article reports some empirical findings about Chinese donation behavior. Our empirical analy...

Book Review: The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China

Book Review: The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China

Psychological status of nursing survivors in China and its associated factors: 6 years after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

PurposeNursing survivors are often not only the victims but also the rescuers in a disaster. Severe natural disasters can cause them long-term psychological impact. This study aimed to investigate the psychological status of nursing survivors and its associated factors 6 years after the severe earthquake that occurred in Wenchuan, Sichuan, on May 12, 2008.MethodsThe study used a cross-sectional design. A total of 597 nurses who survived the earthquake and took care of victims were recruited about 6 years after the disaster. They completed a self-report questionnaire assessing information about demographics, earthquake-related characteristics, psychological status, posttraumatic stress disorder, and posttraumatic growth and resilience.ResultsThe mean score on the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) was (123.56±41.26). Of symptoms indicated by the SCL-90-R, obsessive-compulsive dimension had the highest score (1.62±0.62). The psychological status of nursing survivors differed with the title, monthly per capita household income, financial loss, health status, residential satisfaction, and satisfaction with leaders and colleagues. Severe financial loss and poor health status were significant factors of psychological distress. In addition, psychological status was negatively related to posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth, and positively related to resilience.ConclusionNursing survivors had a relatively normal level of psychological status 6 years after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. However, psychological symptoms such as obsessive-compulsive patterns still remained. Interventions focusing on the improvement of financial subsidies and physical health may be particularly useful in reducing psychological problems after the disaster.

Large-scale white matter network reorganization in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Recently, graph theoretical approaches applied to neuroimaging data have advanced understanding of the human brain connectome and its abnormalities in psychiatric disorders. However, little is known about the topological organization of brain white matter networks in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Seventy-six patients with PTSD and 76 age, gender, and years of education-matched trauma-exposed controls were studied after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake using diffusion tensor imaging and graph theoretical approaches. Topological properties of brain networks including global and nodal measurements and modularity were analyzed. At the global level, patients showed lower clustering coefficient (p = .016) and normalized characteristic path length (p = .035) compared with controls. At the nodal level, increased nodal centralities in left middle frontal gyrus, superior and inferior temporal gyrus and right inferior occipital gyrus were observed (p < .05, corrected for false-discovery rate). Modularity analysis revealed that PTSD patients had significantly increased inter-modular connections in the fronto-parietal module, fronto-striato-temporal module, and visual and default mode modules. These findings indicate a PTSD-related shift of white matter network topology toward randomization. This pattern was characterized by an increased global network integration, reflected by increased inter-modular connections with increased nodal centralities involving fronto-temporo-occipital regions. This study suggests that extremely stressful life experiences, when they lead to PTSD, are associated with large-scale brain white matter network topological reconfiguration at global, nodal, and modular levels.

Can corporate philanthropy be driven from the bottom to the top? Evidence from China

PurposeThis paper aims to demonstrate that corporate philanthropy can be driven from the bottom to the top. In particular, the authors investigate whether employees’ donations influence corporate philanthropy and under what conditions this effect occurs.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consists of Chinese listed firms that disclosed the amount employees donated in response to the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. The Heckman two-stage selection model is applied to examine the effect of employees’ donations on corporate philanthropy and the conditions under which this effect occurs.FindingsThe results show that employees’ donations are positively associated with corporate philanthropy. Furthermore, a higher percentage of females in top management teams can significantly strengthen the effect of employees’ donations on corporate philanthropy. When the average age of the top management team members is high, the influence of employees’ donations on corporate philanthropy is stronger.Practical implicationsThis is an empirical study that helps to predict corporate philanthropy. Another practical implication is that employees should be recognized as an important element of corporate social responsibility.Social implicationsThe results encourage employees to become drivers of corporate social responsibility.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the corporate social responsibility literature by demonstrating that corporate philanthropy can be driven from the bottom to the top. Moreover, this study integrates signaling theory into the study of corporate social responsibility. Finally, this study identifies two important contingent factors that strengthen the effect of employees on top managers’ decisions about corporate social responsibility.

Deep learning for seismic phase detection and picking in the aftershock zone of 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake

The increasing volume of seismic data from long-term continuous monitoring motivates the development of algorithms based on convolutional neural network (CNN) for faster and more reliable phase detection and picking. However, many less studied regions lack a significant amount of labeled events needed for traditional CNN approaches. In this paper, we present a CNN-based Phase-Identification Classifier (CPIC) designed for phase detection and picking on small to medium sized training datasets. When trained on 30,146 labeled phases and applied to one-month of continuous recordings during the aftershock sequences of the 2008 MW 7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan, China, CPIC detects 97.5% of the manually picked phases in the standard catalog and predicts their arrival times with a five-times improvement over the ObsPy AR picker. In addition, unlike other CNN-based approaches that require millions of training samples, when the off-line training set size of CPIC is reduced to only a few thousand training samples the accuracy stays above 95%. The deployment of CPIC takes less than 12 h to pick arrivals in 31-day recordings on 14 stations. In addition to the catalog phases manually picked by analysts, CPIC finds more phases for existing events and new events missed in the catalog. Among those additional detections, some are confirmed by a matched filter method while others require further investigation. Finally, when tested on a small dataset from a different region (Oklahoma, US), CPIC achieves 97% accuracy after fine tuning only the fully connected layer of the model. This result suggests that the CPIC developed in this study can be used to identify and pick P/S arrivals in other regions with no or minimum labeled phases.

Analysis of global gravitational precursors before some Asian strong earthquakes

The authors consider the gravitational precursors of Mega Earthquakes in Asia and Southeast Asia: Sichuan earthquake, M7.9, May 12, 2008; Andaman Islands earthquake, M7.5, August 10, 2009; Samoa Islands earthquake, M8.1, September 29, 2009; Northern Sumatra earthquake, M7.8, April 06,2010; Tohoku earthquake, M9, March 11, 2011. All gravitational precursors were recorded using of ATROPATENA earthquake prediction stations. The creation of an international earthquake prediction system based on the results obtained is proposed. To monitor spatio-temporal variations of the gravitational field, special detectors named ATROPATENA stations have been developed and made. The detectors continuously measure the value of the gravitational constant G in mutually perpendicular directions and relative values of gravity Δ g . Before and after the Mega Earthquakes in Asia and Southeast Asia, variations of the Earth’s gravitational field were registered at large distances from the epicenter (near 8000 km); they were measured with the ATROPATENA stations in the following location: Baku (Azerbaijan) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia). Indications of the Cavendish balance when measuring the gravitational constant G are influenced by spatio-temporal changes in external gravitational fields of geological origin, which alter over time indications of the true values of G . Measuring the true value of the gravitational constant G on the Earth’s surface with accuracy greater than the second digit after the decimal point is not possible due to the spatio-temporal variations of the gravitational field as a result of the impact of geodynamic processes. For the first time, the true cause of variations of the recorded values of the gravitational constant G has been identified. These variations were the subject of scientific dispute throughout the last century.

Travel constraint perceptions of people with mobility disability: a study of Sichuan earthquake survivors

ABSTRACTThis research examines how different socio-demographic and travel characteristics influence the perceptions of travel constraints of people with mobility disability. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research conducted a questionnaire survey with 157 Sichuan Earthquake survivors who suffer from different levels of mobility disability, supplemented by 22 semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that age, education, income, and marital status were the socio-demographic variables, and travel frequency, expenditure, motives, time and companions were the travel-related factors influencing the travel constraint perceptions of people with mobility disability. A novel contribution to the literature is the core finding that a life-cycle pattern was identified in the relationship between age and travel constraints. For instance, age is negatively correlated with interpersonal constraint while positively correlated with intrapersonal constraint. Contrary to the reporting in extant studies, this research did not find that severity of mobility disability affects perceptions of travel constraints. Practically, this research adds further theoretically information substance to the notion that destination managers should consider.

The Effect of Age, Gender and Socioeconomic Status on Self-esteem, Body Image and Quality of Life of Amputees: An Evaluation Seven Years after the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

Purpose: Psychological well-being is a growing concern in society. It is starting to play a pivotal role in the treatment and care of clients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of age, sex and socioeconomic status on the self-esteem, body image and quality of life of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake amputees. Many of them are at a significant stage in their lives, especially those who are making the transition from childhood and adolescence into adulthood. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in October 2015. Forty-five participants were recruited from clinic sessions in Sichuan. The main outcome measures were Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), Chinese Amputee Body Image Scale (CABIS), and WHO Quality of Life-Bref Instrument (WHO-QOL-Bref). Results were analysed using Student’s T-test and Chi-square test where appropriate, and ANOVA for multi-group comparisons. Results: Participants under 18 years of age scored higher in RSE (p=0.05), and lower in CABIS (p<0.005). They also scored higher in various QOL domains (D3: p<0.08, D4: p=0.06) and WHOQOL-Bref question 2 (p=0.06). Participants of different SES did not show any significant differences in the outcome measures. Female subjects scored higher in WHOQOL-Bref Question 1 (p=0.03). Conclusion and Implication: Younger amputees have less body image distortion, higher quality of life and self-esteem compared to older amputees. Female amputees also appear to have a higher quality of life compared to male amputees. Socioeconomic status does not affect rehabilitation outcome and psychological well-being of amputees. However, the main factors affecting psychological well-being appear to be predominantly age and, possibly, gender.

Book review: The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China Bin Xu

Book review: The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China Bin Xu

Complicated grief and post-traumatic stress symptom profiles in bereaved earthquake survivors: a latent class analysis

ABSTRACT Background: Studies on mental health following disasters have primarily focused on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet severe, enduring, and disabling grief [i.e. complicated grief (CG)] also appears relevant. Objective: The present study examines symptom profiles of PTSD and CG among bereaved Sichuan earthquake survivors 1 year after the disaster. Method: Self-report measures of demographic, disaster, and loss-related characteristics and symptoms of PTSD and CG were administered among 803 survivors (63% women; mean age = 46.7 years). Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify subgroups of people with different PTSD and CG symptom profiles. Results: The LCA demonstrated that a five-class solution yielded the best fit, consisting of a CG class with low PTSD and high CG (N = 208), a combined class with high PTSD and high CG (N = 205), a class with low PTSD and partial CG (N = 145), a class with partial PTSD and CG (N = 136), and a resilient class with low PTSD and CG (N = 108). Being a woman (vs man), losing a child or spouse (vs other), being injured (vs non-injured), and/or having a missing family member (vs non-missing) predicted membership of the CG class compared to other classes. Conclusions: CG appears to be a unique consequence of disasters involving many casualties. Disaster survivors should be screened for CG and provided with appropriate psychological treatment.

The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China

The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China