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Natural disasters in China are the result of several different natural hazards that affect the country according to its particular geographic and geologic features affecting both humans and animals.
Natural disasters reveal the traditional view of disasters as divine retribution: tian zai (天災), literally 'heavenly disaster'.
In ancient beliefs, natural disasters were seen as Heaven's response to immoral human behaviour, whereby the conduct of different individuals carried different weights. While the behaviour of common people ranked last, the actions of bureaucrats had a greater effect. [1] Given that in Imperial China the emperor's behaviour was believed to be the most important, popular belief was that the emperor should attempt to prevent disasters by ensuring his conduct was in following with moral codes – and if a disaster should occur, he was responsible for addressing the consequences. According to the Overseas Development Institute, the state-led nature of humanitarian aid in today's China traces back to these traditional beliefs. [2] Chinese believed that natural disasters would foretell the end of a dynasty or the death of a great leader.
This concept of cosmic linkage between natural disasters and human conduct was radically rejected at the height of Maoist years when nature was represented as ‘an enemy to be overcome, an adversary to be brought to heel’. Propaganda posters were produced with the slogan, "Earthquakes cannot frighten us, the people will certainly conquer nature." [3]
The People's Republic of China established a National Earthquake Administration in 1971 to take charge of monitoring, research, and emergency response for earthquakes. It was renamed China Earthquake Administration (CEA) in 1998, mandated by the Earthquake prevention and Disaster Reduction Act of PRC [4] under the State Council. Each provincial, autonomous regional, and centrally administered municipal government also has its own earthquake administration that is under the direction of CEA. [5]
Among the famines in China, the worst ever was the Great Chinese Famine.
The National Disaster Reduction Center (NDRC) of the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) is a specialized agency under the Chinese Government engaged in information services and supporting decisions on various natural disasters. It provides reference for disaster-management departments in their decision-making and technical support for China's disaster-reduction undertakings by way of collecting and analyzing disaster information, assessing disasters and emergency relief, and analyzing and studying disasters using such advanced technology as satellite remote sensing.
A disaster is a serious problem that happens over a period of time and causes so much harm to people, things, economies, or the environment that the affected community or society cannot handle it on its own. In theory, natural disasters are those caused by natural hazards, whereas human-made disasters are those caused by human hazards. However, in modern times, the divide between natural, human-made or human-accelerated disasters is more and more difficult to draw. In fact, all disasters can be seen as human-made, due to human failure to introduce appropriate emergency management measures.
A natural disaster is the highly harmful impact on a society or community following a natural hazard event. Some examples of natural hazard events include: flooding, drought, earthquake, tropical cyclone, lightning, tsunami, volcanic activity, wildfire. A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves economic damage in its wake. The severity of the damage depends on the affected population's resilience and on the infrastructure available. Scholars have been saying that the term natural disaster is unsuitable and should be abandoned. Instead, the simpler term disaster could be used, while also specifying the category of hazard. A disaster is a result of a natural or human-made hazard impacting a vulnerable community. It is the combination of the hazard along with exposure of a vulnerable society that results in a disaster.
Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional reasons.
Preparations for earthquakes can consist of survival measures, preparation that will improve survival in the event of an earthquake, or mitigating measures, that seek to minimise the effect of an earthquake. Common survival measures include storing food and water for an emergency, and educating individuals what to do during an earthquake. Mitigating measures can include firmly securing large items of furniture, TV and computer screens that may otherwise fall over in an earthquake. Likewise, avoiding storing items above beds or sofas reduces the chance of objects falling on individuals.
Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity.
Emergency management or disaster management is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actually focus on the management of emergencies, which can be understood as minor events with limited impacts and are managed through the day-to-day functions of a community. Instead, emergency management focuses on the management of disasters, which are events that produce more impacts than a community can handle on its own. The management of disasters tends to require some combination of activity from individuals and households, organizations, local, and/or higher levels of government. Although many different terminologies exist globally, the activities of emergency management can be generally categorized into preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery, although other terms such as disaster risk reduction and prevention are also common. The outcome of emergency management is to prevent disasters and where this is not possible, to reduce their harmful impacts.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Natural evil is evil for which "no non-divine agent can be held morally responsible for its occurrence" and is chiefly derived from the operation of the laws of nature. Others such as Christian theologians reject this definition and argue that natural evil is the indirect result of original sin just as moral evils are, although moral evil is "caused by human activity" directly. Some theologians even argue that natural evil is directly perpetrated by demonic agents. Atheists argue that the existence of natural evil challenges belief in the existence, omnibenevolence, or omnipotence of God or any deity.
World Vision Australia (WVA) is an ecumenical Christian non-governmental organisation based in Melbourne, Australia. It is a part of the World Vision International Partnership led by World Vision International. WVA is Australia's largest overseas aid and development organisation, operating primarily to assist overseas communities living in poverty. It also carries out development work in Australia with First Nations communities.
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is an approach for planning and taking steps to make disasters less likely to happen, and less damaging when they do happen. DRR aims to make communities stronger and better prepared to handle disasters. When DRR is successful, it decreases the vulnerability of communities because it mitigates the effects of disasters. This means DRR can reduce the severity and number of risky events. Since climate change can increase climate hazards, DRR and climate change adaptation are often looked at together in development efforts.
New Zealand Red Cross or Rīpeka Whero Aotearoa is a humanitarian organisation, which has more than 9,000 members and volunteers. In New Zealand, Red Cross delivers core community services, such as Meals on Wheels, refugee re-settlement services, first aid courses, and emergency management operations. Internationally, New Zealand Red Cross sends international delegates overseas to assist in areas where humanitarian assistance is needed, this includes disaster preparedness and response. In 2013, 17 delegates were sent to the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan and in 2014, 18 New Zealand delegates responded to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
The following are lists of disasters.
The China Earthquake Administration is a public institution managed by the State Council at the deputy ministerial level in charge of national earthquake disaster reduction work. It is currently managed by the Ministry of Emergency Management.
UN-SPIDER is a platform which facilitates the use of space-based technologies for disaster management and emergency response. It is a programme under the auspices of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) was an organizational unit within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) charged by the President of the United States with directing and coordinating international United States government disaster assistance. USAID merged the former offices of OFDA and Food for Peace (FFP) in 2020 to form the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).
Disaster management in India — policies, laws, routines, and courses-of-action to aid in the conservation and recovery of lives and property during a natural or man-made disaster. Disaster management plans are multi-layered, and are planned to address issues such as floods, hurricanes/cyclones, fire, mass failure of utilities (blackouts) and the rapid spread of disease (pandemic).
From a meteorological standpoint, India is especially vulnerable to natural disasters due to its unique location below the Himalayas as well as its geo-climatic conditions and varied landscapes; monsoons, subsequent landslides and floods, droughts, famine, wildfires, cyclones, and earthquakes are all experienced to varying degrees on the Subcontinent, in addition to areas of dense overpopulation being at greater risk for disease outbreak and sanitation concerns, in the event of a natural disaster.
Due to this vastness of the country, different regions are vulnerable to different natural disasters. For example, during monsoon season, it is the peninsular regions of South India that are generally most affected, as well as by cyclone or tsunami; the more temperate to arid states of western India risk severe drought, famine and/or wildfire during summer. The more remote, mountainous regions of the North, especially the Himalayan states, can experience devastating avalanches in winter, spring flooding and major landslides during wet periods. This is in addition to earthquakes which, in the mountains, bring the potential for increased devastation due to falling rocks, mudslides, and flash floods.
China International Search and Rescue(CISAR) team was a professional heavy search and rescue team responsible for search and rescue during earthquake breakout, which existed from 2001 to 2018 until it was superseded by the China Search and Rescue team formed by the Ministry of Emergency Management.
Natural disasters in Nigeria are mainly related to the climate of Nigeria, which has been reported to cause loss of lives and properties. A natural disaster might be caused by flooding, landslides, and insect infestation, among others. To be classified as a disaster, there is needs to be a profound environmental effect or human loss which must lead to financial loss. This occurrence has become an issue of concern, threatening large populations living in diverse environments in recent years.
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