Search Results (178)

This study examines the roles, policy alignment, and challenges of civil society organizations (CSOs) in China’s disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts post-2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. Using qualitative analysis of national policies, international frameworks, and academic literature, it traces the evolution of Chinese CSOs from peripheral actors to state-integrated partners in disaster risk governance. Findings reveal that China’s top-down system has progressively institutionalized CSOs through Five-Year Plans, enabling their participation in emergency response and community resilience by using technological innovation. However, their contributions remain skewed toward short-term relief, with limited engagement in risk reduction or global humanitarian initiatives. Challenges include fragmented government–CSO collaboration and reliance on informal networks. While CSOs demonstrate growing technical proficiency, systemic barriers—such as funding gaps, weak institutionalized partnerships, and ideological divergences—hinder sustainability. Recommendations emphasize capacity building in risk education, policy literacy, and technology adoption, alongside reforms to formalize cross-sector collaboration and expand international engagement. By addressing these gaps, Chinese CSOs could transition from crisis responders to proactive agents of sustainable resilience, aligning local actions with global DRR agendas. This research offers critical insights for policymakers and practitioners seeking to optimize CSOs’ role in national and local risk governance and invest in their development. Full article

The evolution of traditional rural settlements is a dynamic process. During urbanization, traditional rural settlements, as dual carriers of natural and cultural heritage, face the structural contradiction between preservation and development. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake caused systemic damage to the Linpan settlements in western Sichuan. The post-seismic reconstruction (2008-) and rural revitalization (2017-) phases have offered a unique case for exploring sustainable cultural landscape patterns. This study innovatively devises a “preservation–development” dual-system evaluation framework. Using the coupling coordination degree model, it analyzes the characteristics of Linpan at different stages within a composite cultural–economic–social system. The study found that while tangible carriers can be quickly repaired through financial support, intangible culture is often at risk of losing its inheritors. Over 60% of Linpan depend on government support, exposing the fragility of “dependence-based development”, and few achieve high-quality “preservation–development” synergy (coupling coordination degree D > 0.8). Most remain in a “preservation lag–development obstruction” cycle (D < 0.5). This paper explores ways to balance Linpan preservation and development dynamically and suggests creating a self-cycling “resource empowerment–cultural identity–value transformation” development pattern. It provides a theoretical reference for cultural heritage preservation and disaster resilience building and contributes a unique solution for the revitalization of traditional settlements. Full article

This study investigates collaborative disaster response strategies involving the government and social organizations from a dynamic perspective, incorporating stochastic disturbances that influence emergency resource supply. To examine the strategic interactions among the participants, three stochastic differential game models are formulated under distinct scenarios: centralized decision making for collusive emergency response, decentralized emergency response without a cost-sharing contract, and decentralized emergency response with a cost-sharing contract. Under an infinite-horizon planning framework, the closed-form solutions for the optimal response efforts and the corresponding value functions are derived for all three scenarios and comparatively analyzed. The results indicate that compared with the purely decentralized scenario, introducing a cost-sharing mechanism achieves a Pareto improvement by optimizing both overall system efficiency and emergency supply availability. Although the centralized collusive model results in the highest expected level of emergency resource supply, it is also associated with the greatest uncertainty. Furthermore, a numerical simulation based on emergency resource allocation during the Wenchuan earthquake is conducted. The results show significant differences in resource availability and response performance under different response mechanisms. Centralized collaboration, together with a well-designed cost-sharing mechanism, can significantly enhance the robustness and efficiency of the overall system, offering important insights for optimizing real-world disaster response strategies. Full article

In landslide susceptibility evaluation, scientific sampling minimizes potential societal losses and enhances the efficiency of disaster prevention and mitigation. However, traditional sampling methods, such as selecting landslide and non-landslide samples based on equal proportions or area proportions, overlook the different societal losses resulting from landslide omission and misreporting, and the potential societal losses faced by their evaluation results are often not minimized. Therefore, this study proposes a sampling method that takes potential societal losses into account and uses the Landslide Misjudgment Potential Societal Loss Evaluation Index (LMPSLEI) to quantify the total potential social losses in the area due to landslide omission and misreporting. The LMPSLEI is minimized by optimizing the sample ratio, thus minimizing the potential societal losses faced by the evaluation results and enhancing the scientific basis of disaster prevention and mitigation efforts. This study takes the Wenchuan earthquake area as the research region, selects 13 conditional factors and employs two models—Random Forest (RF) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)—to conduct case studies. We derive the recommended sample ratio based on the formula, hypothesizing that the LMPSLEI will be minimized under this ratio. The results show that the sample ratio for LMPSLEI minimization in the RF model is similar to the recommended sample ratio, while the sample ratio for LMPSLEI minimization in the CNN model is slightly higher than the recommended sample ratio. The recommended sample ratio can achieve the minimum of LMPSLEI or reach a lower value under different societal losses weights of landslide omission/misreporting, and thus it can be used as a preliminary choice of sampling for landslide susceptibility evaluation considering the potential societal losses. Full article

Earthquakes, as one of the most destructive natural disasters, often cause significant casualties and severe economic losses. Accurate prediction of earthquake fatalities is of great importance for pre-disaster prevention and mitigation planning, as well as post-disaster emergency response deployment. To address the challenges of small sample sizes, high dimensionality, and strong nonlinearity in earthquake fatality prediction, this paper proposes an integrated modeling approach (PCA-IWOA-XGBoost) combining Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the Improved Whale Optimization Algorithm (IWOA), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost). The method first employs PCA to reduce the dimensionality of the influencing factor data, eliminating redundant information and improving modeling efficiency. Subsequently, the IWOA is used to intelligently optimize key hyperparameters of the XGBoost model, enhancing the prediction accuracy and stability. Using 42 major earthquake events in China from 1970 to 2025 as a case study, covering regions including the west (e.g., Tonghai in Yunnan, Wenchuan, Jiuzhaigou), central (e.g., Lushan in Sichuan, Ya’an), east (e.g., Tangshan, Yingkou), north (e.g., Baotou in Inner Mongolia, Helinger), northwest (e.g., Jiashi in Xinjiang, Wushi, Yongdeng in Gansu), and southwest (e.g., Lancang in Yunnan, Lijiang, Ludian), the empirical results showed that the PCA-IWOA-XGBoost model achieved an average test set accuracy of 97.0%, a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.996, a root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) reduced to 4.410 and 3.430, respectively, and a residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 21.090. These results significantly outperformed the baseline XGBoost, PCA-XGBoost, and IWOA-XGBoost models, providing improved technical support for earthquake disaster risk assessment and emergency response. Full article

Urban water supply pipelines play a critical role in ensuring the continuous delivery of water, and their failure during earthquakes can result in significant societal disruptions. This study proposes a seismic damage prediction method for urban buried water supply pipelines affected by seismic wave propagation, grounded in empirical data from past earthquake events. The method integrates key influencing factors, including pipeline material, diameter, joint type, age, and soil corrosivity. To enhance its practical applicability and address the challenge of quantifying soil corrosivity, a simplified classification approach is introduced. The proposed model is validated using observed pipeline damage data from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, with predicted results showing relatively good agreement with actual failure patterns, thereby demonstrating the model’s reliability for seismic risk assessment. Furthermore, the model is applied to assess potential earthquake-induced damage to buried pipelines in the city center of Ganzhou, and the corresponding results are presented. The findings support earthquake risk mitigation and the protection of urban infrastructure, while also providing valuable guidance for the replacement of aging pipelines and the enhancement of urban disaster resilience. Full article

Vegetation restoration in seismically active regions involves complex interactions between geological hazards and ecological processes. Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation recovery is critical for assessing disaster evolution, evaluating mitigation effectiveness, and guiding ecological resilience planning. This study investigates post-earthquake vegetation dynamics in the Chutou Gully watershed, located in the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake zone, using NDVI data from 2000 to 2022. Results reveal a sharp decline in vegetation cover following the earthquake, followed by a steady recovery trend, with NDVI values projected to return to pre-earthquake levels by 2030. Degradation was concentrated in debris flow channels, while more stable adjacent slopes exhibited stronger recovery. Over time, the area of poorly restored vegetation significantly declined, indicating increased ecosystem resilience. The findings highlight the need for site-specific ecological restoration strategies tailored to localized recovery conditions. This study provides valuable insights for disaster mitigation agencies, ecological planners, and local governments working in mountainous hazard-prone regions, and contributes to the long-term sustainability of ecosystems in disaster-prone areas. Full article

The Wenchuan earthquake (Ms8.0), which struck Sichuan Province, China, on 12 May 2008, was one of the most devastating seismic events in recent Chinese history. It resulted in the deaths of nearly 90,000 people, left millions homeless, and caused widespread destruction of infrastructure across a vast area. In addition to the severe ground shaking and surface rupture, a variety of unusual atmospheric/ionospheric and geophysical phenomena were reported in the days and hours leading up to the earthquake. Notably, iridescent clouds were observed just before the earthquake at three distinct locations approximately 450–550 km northeast of the epicenter. These clouds appeared as fragmented rainbows located beneath the sun and were characterized by their short lifespan, lasting only 1–10 min. Moreover, they exhibited striped patterns within the iridescent regions, suggesting the influence of an external electric field. These features cannot be adequately explained by the well-known meteorological phenomenon of circumhorizontal arcs, raising the possibility of a different origin. The formation mechanism of these clouds remains unclear. In this study, we explore the hypothesis that the iridescent clouds were precursory phenomena associated with the impending earthquake. Specifically, we examine a potential causal relationship between the appearance of these clouds and the geological environment of the earthquake source. We propose a novel model in which electrical disturbances generated along the fault system immediately before the mainshock propagated upward and interacted with the ionosphere, resulting in the creation of a localized electric field. This electric field, in turn, induced electro-optic effects that altered the scattering of sunlight and projected iridescent patterns onto cirrus clouds, leading to the observed phenomena. Full article

Earthquakes, as serious natural disasters, have greatly harmed human beings. In recent years, the combination of acoustic emission technology and information entropy has shown good prospects in earthquake prediction. In this paper, we study the application of acoustic emission b-values and information entropy in earthquake prediction in China and analyze their changing characteristics and roles. The acoustic emission b-value is based on the Gutenberg–Richter law, which quantifies the relationship between magnitude and occurrence frequency. Lower b-values are usually associated with higher earthquake risks. Meanwhile, information entropy is used to quantify the uncertainty of the system, which can reflect the distribution characteristics of seismic events and their dynamic changes. In this study, acoustic emission data from several stations around the 2008 Wenchuan 8.0 earthquake are selected for analysis. By calculating the acoustic emission b-value and information entropy, the following is found: (1) Both the b-value and information entropy show obvious changes before the main earthquake: during the seismic phase, the acoustic emission b-value decreases significantly, and the information entropy also shows obvious decreasing entropy changes. The b-values of stations AXI and DFU continue to decrease in the 40 days before the earthquake, while the b-values of stations JYA and JMG begin to decrease significantly in the 17 days or so before the earthquake. The information entropy changes in the JJS and YZP stations are relatively obvious, especially for the YZP station, which shows stronger aggregation characteristics of seismic activity. This phenomenon indicates that the regional underground structure is in an extremely unstable state. (2) The stress evolution process of the rock mass is divided into three stages: in the first stage, the rock mass enters a sub-stabilized state about 40 days before the main earthquake; in the second stage, the rupture of the cracks changes from a disordered state to an ordered state, which occurs about 10 days before the earthquake; and in the third stage, the impending destabilization of the entire subsurface structure is predicted, which occurs in a short period before the earthquake. In summary, the combined analysis of the acoustic emission b-value and information entropy provides a novel dual-parameter synergy framework for earthquake monitoring and early warning, enhancing precursor recognition through the coupling of stress evolution and system disorder dynamics. Full article

The Wenchuan earthquake, an unexpected magnitude 8.0 mega-earthquake that struck on 12 May 2008, significantly changed land cover (LC), particularly affecting vegetation and rock cover. However, the long-term effects of LC changes on ecosystem services (ESs) remain unclear in earthquake-affected regions, especially across different spatial scales. This study, focusing on Wenchuan County, employs a multi-model framework that integrates fractional vegetation coverage (FVC), rock exposure rate (FR), and ecosystem services (ESs), combining correlation analysis, geographically weighted regression (GWR), Self-organizing map (SOM) clustering, and XGBoost-SHAP model, to analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics, interrelationships, and driving mechanisms of land cover (LC) and ESs before and after the earthquake. Results show that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, FVC and FR fluctuated markedly under earthquake influence, with slight declines in habitat quality (HQ) and carbon storage (CS) and notable improvements in soil conservation (SC) and water yield (WY). (2) With increasing elevation, the FVC–CS–SC group exhibited a downward trend and synergy, while the FR–HQ–WY group increased and also showed synergy; trade-offs and synergies became more pronounced at larger scales, displaying strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity. (3) Elevation (explaining 10–60% of variance) was the main driver for LC and ESs, with land use, slope, human activities, climate, and geological conditions significantly impacting individual indicators. At the same time, the existing geological hazard points are mainly concentrated along both sides of the river valleys, which may be associated with intensified human–land conflicts. These findings offer valuable insights into ecological restoration and sustainable development in earthquake-affected regions. Full article

The integration of deep learning and remote sensing for the rapid detection of landslides from high-resolution remote sensing imagery plays a crucial role in post-disaster emergency response. However, the availability of publicly accessible deep learning datasets specifically for landslide detection remains limited, posing challenges for researchers in meeting task requirements. To address this issue, this study develops and releases a deep learning landslide dataset using Google Earth imagery, focusing on the impact zones of the 2008 Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake, the 2014 Ludian Ms6.5 earthquake, and the 2017 Jiuzhaigou Ms7.0 earthquake as the research areas. The dataset contains 2727 samples with a spatial resolution of 1.06 m. To enhance landslide recognition, a lightweight boundary-focused attention (BFA) mechanism designed using the Canny operator is adopted. This mechanism improves the model’s ability to emphasize landslide edge features and is integrated with the ResUNet model, forming the ResUNet–BFA architecture for landslide identification. The experimental results indicate that the ResUNet–BFA model outperforms widely used algorithms in extracting landslide boundaries and details, resulting in fewer misclassifications and omissions. Additionally, compared with conventional attention mechanisms, the BFA achieves superior performance, producing recognition results that more closely align with actual labels. Full article

Post-disaster rapid recovery and reconstruction, along with the evaluation of these efforts, are crucial for affected areas. They not only facilitate the swift repair of vulnerable systems but also reflect whether the recovery work has enhanced regional coordinated development. This is vital for achieving sustainable development post-reconstruction. This study addresses two main questions: (1) How effective were the recovery and reconstruction efforts in Mianyang, Deyang, and Guangyuan post-Wenchuan earthquake from a socio-economic–ecological system perspective? (2) What are the temporal and spatial changes in the Coordinated Development Index (CDI) of key affected counties? By constructing a framework to assess post-disaster coordinated development, this study utilized the entropy weight method and mean-variance method for the comprehensive weighting of evaluation indicators. The gray system prediction model G(1,1) was used to forecast the coordinated development levels of the three cities from 2019 to 2025. The findings reveal the following: (1) From 2005 to 2018, the CDI of Deyang, Guangyuan, and Mianyang showed a significant upward trend. Post-earthquake reconstruction measures like land planning and ecological restoration notably enhanced regional resilience and promoted coordinated development among social, economic, and ecological systems. (2) Despite overall success in reconstruction, disparities in development levels persist among Mianyang, Deyang, and Guangyuan. Predictions suggest that Deyang, Mianyang, and Guangyuan will achieve high-quality coordinated development in the next 5, 2, and 1 years, respectively. (3) Although significant achievements have been made through industrial restructuring, land reuse planning, and ecological restoration, more precise disaster prevention and mitigation strategies are needed to foster coordinated development among social, economic, and ecological systems. In summary, this study evaluates the post-disaster recovery effects in the hardest-hit areas of the Wenchuan earthquake and forecasts future development, providing a reference for similar post-disaster reconstruction areas in assessing and predicting coordinated development. Full article

Focusing on major earthquakes (EQs; MS ≥ 7) in Western China, this study primarily analyzes the fluctuation in Atmospheric Chemical Potential (ACP) before and after the Wenchuan, Yushu, Lushan, Jiuzhaigou, and Maduo EQs via Climatological Analysis of Seismic Precursors Identification (CAPRI). The distribution of vertical ACP revealed distinct altitude-dependent characteristics. The ACP at lower atmospheric layers (100–2000 m) exhibited a high correlation, and this correlation decreased with increasing altitude. Anomalies were detected within one month prior to each of the five EQs studied, with the majority occurring 14 to 30 days before the events, followed by a few additional anomalies. The spatial distribution of anomalies is consistent with the distribution of fault zones, with noticeable fluctuation in surrounding areas. The ACP at an altitude of 200 m gave a balance between sensitivity to seismic signals and minimal surface interference and proved to be optimal for EQ monitoring in Western China. The results offer a significant reference for remote sensing studies related to EQ monitoring and the Lithosphere–Atmosphere–Ionosphere Coupling (LAIC) model, thereby advancing our understanding of pre-seismic atmospheric variations in Western China. Full article

The Daguangbao landslide (DGBL), triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, is a rare instance of super-giant landslides globally. The post-earthquake evolution of the DGBL has garnered significant attention in recent years; however, its deformation patterns remain poorly characterized owing to the complex local topography. In this study, we present the first observations of the surface dynamics of DGBL by integrating satellite- and ground-based InSAR data complemented by kinematic interpretation using a LiDAR-derived Digital Surface Model (DSM). The results indicate that the maximum line-of-sight (LOS) displacement velocity obtained from satellite InSAR is approximately 80.9 mm/year between 1 January 2021, and 30 December 2023, with downslope displacement velocities ranging from −60.5 mm/year to 69.5 mm/year. Ground-based SAR (GB-SAR) enhances satellite observations by detecting localized apparent deformation at the rear edge of the landslide, with LOS displacement velocities reaching up to 1.5 mm/h. Our analysis suggests that steep and rugged terrain, combined with fragile and densely jointed lithology, are the primary factors contributing to the ongoing deformation of the landslide. The findings of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of combining satellite- and ground-based InSAR systems, highlighting their complementary role in interpreting complex landslide deformations. Full article

The seismic effect of well water level is complex and variable, and even if both wells are located in an area with similar tectonic and hydrogeological conditions, they exhibit slightly varying response characteristics to the same earthquake. Wells BB and RC, located about 100 km apart in the southwest of the Huayingshan fault zone in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions, exhibited obvious similarities and differences in their co-seismically response and sustained recovery characteristics during the Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake. Based on the dislocation theory and fluid–solid coupling theory, this study developed the seismic stress–strain model and the response model of pore pressure to seismic stress using Coulomb 3.3 and COMSOL 6.3, respectively. Simulation findings indicate that both BB and RC are located in the expansion zone, where their water levels show a co-seismic step-down. The amplitudes of BB and RC water levels are 83 cm and 81 cm, which are approximately 10 cm smaller than the actual values. The recovery times are 60 d for BB and 3 h for RC, closely resembling the actual values. Furthermore, the numerical results from different scenarios show that the recovery time of pore pressure is reduced by several times when the permeability of the confining layer overlying the observed aquifer increases by one order of magnitude or the thickness decreases, and this change is more sensitive to the permeability. It is clear that the confining condition has an important impact in the response time of sustained changes in well water levels, which may also help to explain the variations in the characteristics of sustained changes in wells BB and RC. Full article