Consuming post-disaster destinations: The case of Sichuan, China

Addressing the call for a better understanding of tourist behavior in relation to post-disaster destinations, this study explores the motivations and intentions of potential domestic tourists (from non-hit areas) to visit Sichuan, China in the aftermath of an earthquake. Drawing on dark tourism theories, this study offers a more comprehensive insight into the consumption of post-disaster destinations, aiming to capture the impact of the changes to the destination’s attributes on tourist behavior. The findings move beyond the common approach to tourism recovery, which solely focuses on reviving the traditional ‘‘non-dark’’ products. This study reveals the importance of newly formed dark attributes that emerge from the disaster as another means to destination recovery, reflected in the emergence of new tourist segments

NGO collaboration in natural disaster response efforts- A comparative case study of earthquakes in Asia

This paper examines the response of NGOs to natural disasters, specifically in regards to collaboration efforts. The study utilizes a comparative case study methodology of most-similar design to look at three specific disasters- The Kashmir Earthquake, The Sichuan Earthquake, and The Japan Earthquake. Within each of these earthquakes the organizations Doctors Without Borders, the International Red Cross, and Oxfam International’s specific responses will be highlighted. The collaboration efforts will be examined utilizing general questions focusing on willingness to collaborate, commitment, and compatibility of objectives. Ultimately, this study found that all three components seem to be hypotheses worthy of further study

Earthquake Risk and Earthquake Catastrophe Insurance for the People's Republic of China

The year 2008 witnessed the renewed interests in earthquake risk management and insurance in the People's Republic of China (PRC), after the Wenchuan earthquake hit the country in May. Located along the southeastern edge of the Euro-Asian Plate, the PRC has a relatively high seismicity, which is manifested by the frequent occurrence of large and disastrous earthquakes. Buildings and infrastructure in the earthquake-prone regions of the PRC have relatively low earthquake resistance levels. Hence, disastrous earthquakes result not only in large numbers of injuries and fatalities but also in huge economic losses from property damages. While the PRC began testing earthquake insurance programs in the late 1980s, the overall penetration rate remains very low. The low penetration rate not only creates disruptions for the government after a major earthquake but also, in some cases, delays the reconstruction efforts. Moreover, as a result of the low penetration of earthquake insurance in the PRC, the government serves as the predominant bearer of financial risk from earthquake catastrophes. This paper discusses historical earthquakes and earthquake risk in the PRC and the recent developments of PRC's earthquake risk reduction efforts. The general principles of earthquake programs are explained and the critical issues of formulating earthquake programs in the PRC are discussed, including lessons from earthquake insurance in other countries and other catastrophe insurance in the PRC, data issues, loss risk modeling issues, financial risk modeling issues, legislative issues, and public awareness issues. The paper concludes with several policy directions that the Asian Development Bank can take to help the PRC in its design and implementation of earthquake insurance.earthquake insurance; China; earthquake risk; Wenchuan earthquake; catastrophe insurance

To Donate Is Glorious: The CCP, Chinese Civil Society, and the Wenchuan Earthquake

Through the examination of charitable contributions in the wake of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, this paper strives to comment on donation tendencies among individuals in Mainland China. The data analysis portion of this paper employs the use of both binary logistic and linear regression models to determine the effects of carefully discerned influential variables on an individual\u27s donation decision and extent of donation respectively. Said variables were chosen by a combination of their frequency in preexisting research and speculative causal theory. In addition to the importance of obvious demographic and economic indicators, findings suggest that political status has a pronounced effect on the extent of an individual\u27s donation amount. Consequently, this finding also readily supports prior literature detailing the role of government in the most recent and rapid development of Chinese civil society

Factors Influencing the Evolution of Chinese Disaster Relief Efforts

Disasters are life-altering events for any country. Every country around the world suffers from various kinds of disasters, whether produced by natural or human forces. The impact that these disasters have on people’s lives makes the topic of disaster relief and management a critical one for all governments around the globe; China is certainly no exception to the importance of disaster relief policy. As a country that has fallen victim to many disasters in recent memory, its disaster relief policy is one that has been analyzed at length by scholars around the world. In this piece, I seek to analyze the factors that contributed to the evolution of China’s disaster relief policies over the past few decades, in addition to the effects of these disasters on Chinese society. I argue that there are five main factors that have driven changes in this policy sector: institutional structure and centralization of power, media and technological advances in the realm of communication, international factors (foreign aid, pressures from the international community, and the Olympics), the historical concept of performance legitimation, and the development of civil society

Responding to natural disasters: Examining identity and prosociality in the context of a major earthquake

How does a major natural disaster relate to individuals’ orientation towards society? We collected repeated cross‐sectional surveys before (n = 644) and after the 2010 Chile earthquake (n = 1,389) to examine levels of national identity, prosocial values, helping motivations, and prosocial behaviours in the context of such a calamitous societal event. Our research questions, derived from the literature on helping in times of crisis, considered how natural disasters may implicate identity and prosociality, as well as how identity, prosocial values, and motivations are linked to prosocial action after a disaster. Higher levels of national identity, helping motivations, and disaster‐related helping were found after the earthquake, suggesting that in the aftermath of a disaster, people unite under a common national identity and are motivated to take action related to disaster relief. National identity and prosocial values were closely linked to helping after the earthquake, but specific helping motivations rarely predicted prosocial behaviours. Additionally, proximity to the epicentre was related to higher levels of national identity and participation in reconstruction efforts. These findings contribute to our understanding of people's responses to natural disasters and suggest ways of encouraging prosocial behaviour in the aftermath of unexpected tragic events

Building Disaster Resilience from the Perspective of Disaster Prevention in Mass Relocation Communities in China : Two Case Examples in Sichuan

Sichuan Province, located in Southwest China, is frequently aff ected by natural disasters. Earthquakes above magnitude 6.0 struck Sichuan four times between years 2008 and 2020. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, China began promoting community disaster risk reduction (DRR) projects at the national, provincial and municipal levels. This study examines the role of community DRR in building resilience to disasters by employing a qualitative approach. The methodology includes a literature review and semi-structured interviews with local residents, community officers, and volunteers. The fieldwork was conducted in two typical disaster prevention model communities: Erma, a relocation recovery community built on the concept of Build Back Better (BBB) after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in a disaster-affected area, and Xinfeng, a relocation community resulting from land readjustment in Chengdu City. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: First, due to the expansion of public space, DRR activities have been diversifi ed. Second, women and the elderly are becoming key stakeholders in the DRR community. However, it is diffi cult for people who do not belong to any organization to access disaster prevention information. Third, an increasing number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are participating in community eff orts. Fourth, the disaster prevention experience was also used in the COVID-19 pandemic response. Finally, this paper explains the relationship between self-help, mutual-help, and public help in community DRR

Improved earthquake response via simulation and integrated space- and ground-based technologies: the TREMOR proposal

Earthquakes occurring around the world each year cause thousands of deaths, millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure, and incalculable human suffering. In recent years, satellite technology has been a significant boon to response efforts following an earthquake and its after-effects by providing mobile communications between response teams and remote sensing of damaged areas to disaster management organizations. In 2007, an international team of students and professionals assembled during the International Space University’s Summer Session Program in Beijing, China to examine how satellite and ground-based technology could be better integrated to provide an optimised response in the event of an earthquake. The resulting Technology Resources for Earthquake MOnitoring and Response (TREMOR) proposal describes an integrative prototype response system that will implement mobile satellite communication hubs providing telephone and data links between response teams, onsite telemedicine consultation for emergency first-responders, and satellite navigation systems that will locate and track emergency vehicles and guide search-and-rescue crews. A prototype earthquake simulation system is also proposed, integrating historical data, earthquake precursor data, and local geomatics and infrastructure information to predict the damage that could occur in the event of an earthquake. The backbone of these proposals is a comprehensive education and training program to help individuals, communities and governments prepare in advance. The TREMOR team recommends the coordination of these efforts through a centralised, non-governmental organization