Tomorrow is National Disaster Prevention and Reduction Day in China, in the name of preparation for such possibilities and in remembrance for the thousands who perished and the millions who lost their homes in the biggest earthquake in China for over 30 years.
At 14:28 on 12 May, 2008, what has become known as the Giant Wenchuan Earthquake (汶川大地震) struck Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province, some 80 kilometres northwest of Chengdu.
Measuring a staggering magnitude of 8.0, the earthquake wreaked destruction as never seen before. The death toll climbed as high as 69,000.
At the time, this correspondent was in the air, but colleagues working in his-then office on 11F of Golden Eagle in Nanjing’s Xinjiekou reported the tall building swaying and everyone being emergency evacuated down the stairs.
Wenchuan is 1,400 kilometres from Nanjing.
Ever since, 12 May has been National Disaster Prevention and Reduction Day in China. Not to be confused with the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, held each year on 13 October. That particular day dates back to 1989, when the United Nations General Assembly called for for a day to “promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction”.
Here in Nanjing in 2022, the lead up to the anniversary of the mega tremor has been once again marked with activities to deepen awareness as to earthquake readiness among the general population, especially youngsters.
In Nanjing’s Qixia District in Changjiang Village, which falls under Longtan Sub District, there were carried out earthquake prevention drills in kindergartens under Qixia’s jurisdiction.
Security officers with the Village educated the pre schoolers with an understanding of earthquakes and risk avoidance. Children were also taught to be familiar with various methods of safe evacuation, reports the Yangtze Evening News.
Prepared for the drill, at 10:30 one morning earlier this week, the alarm sounded. Children took shelter nearby, squatted quickly under solid desks and protected their heads with both hands. A longer alarm then sounded, prompting volunteers and teachers to organise the children to queue up, hold their hands on their heads and then bend down to evacuate quickly the kindergarten in an orderly fashion along a predetermined route. The drill ended with a head count to confirm all children were present and correct.
As a result of such preparations, official statistics reveal a nationwide reduction in the number of deaths and missing people due to natural disasters of 30 percent, between 2018 and 2020, reported CGTN this time last year.
While the chances of another quake on the scale of Wenchuan are remote, Nanjing frequently gets struck by seismic activity. The largest earthquake in the city since records began occurred as recently as 4 March, 2020. That was a magnitude-3.0 tremor centred near Hongshan Forest Zoo, which knocked out telephone lines in the vicinity.
Since the 1970s, a total of eight earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 3.0 have taken place within 50 kilometres of that Nanjing quake in 2020.
