Sichuan (China)
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Partner involved
People'a Hospital of Deyang City
Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital
Disaster location
Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, China
Geography
The Sichuan Province is located in the Upper Yangtze Valley in southwest China. It is one of the largest provinces in the nation covering an area of 569,000 square kilometers with and estimated population of over 70,000,000. The province borders the Tibetan Plateau in the west and the Three Gorges and the Yangtze River in the east. The eastern part of the Sichuan basin is ringed by high mountains with a subtropical and humid climate. The western part is considered the highland area experiencing regular fog with intense sunlight and rather low temperatures.Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan located in the center of the province and is the cultural and industrial center. [i]
Disaster information
On the 12th of May 2008 at 14:28 (2.28 pm GMT+8) the ground shook in the Sichuan Province of China. The earthquake measured a magnitude of 8 on the Richter with a depth of 19 kilometres.[ii]The earthquake is also called the Wenchuan earthquake (Chinese: 汶川大地震; pinyin: Wènchuān dà dìzhèn), because the epicentre was located in the Wenchuan County about 80 km away from Chendgu the capital city of the Sichuan province.
The earthquake itself and landslides triggered by aftershocks, destroyed and damaged the transportation infrastructure such as roads and railways. Further, many clinics were affected and destroyed by the earthquake and thus the access to health care was severely interrupted.i It earthquake affected eight states and 857 counties who account for a population of about 348 million.ii
Reports released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China reported about 69,227 people were killed, 17,923 people were missing and 374,643 people were injured due to collapsing buildings and flying objects i.e. rocks and bricks. i,ii
Economy
The Sichuan province is a greatly industrialized with also a wide range of agricultural activities. [iii]
Population
The Sichuan Province has very diversified ranges of ethnic groups, including the Han, the Yi, the Tibetans, the Miao, the Hui and the Qiang.i Sichuan is on of the most densely populated provinces in China. However, the population is unevenly distributed with the number of persons per square mile of cultivated land varying from about 26,000 persons in the Chengdu Plain to fewer than 130 persons in the west.i
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References
[i] Xinhua News Agency.2003. Available at:http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-04/02/content_815407.htm (Accessed 6 May 2010).
[ii] Chen Tw, Yang Zg, Wang Al, Dong Zh, Yu Jq, Zhuang Zp et. al. 2009. Crush extremity fractures associated with the 2008 Sichuan earthquake: anatomic sites, numbers and statuses evaluated with digital radiography and multi detector computed tomography. Skeletal Radiol 39:1089-1097.
[iii] WHO.2008. Communicable disease risk assessment and interventions: Sichuan earthquake: the People’s Republic of China. Geneva, Switzerland.