Introduction to Beijing
The capital of China, Beijing, is affected the most by catastrophes. Earthquakes, floods, famines, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis are calamities that are caused by natural activities of the Earth. These calamities are referred to as natural disasters as they result in not only loss of lives, but also a tremendous number of people who are rendered and homeless. Because of their violent nature, natural disasters in Beijing have hurled people into a labyrinth from which very few are able to survive. Natural disasters beget irreparable damage to the property which lasts forever, and demand several years to overcome the destruction. (BJ Review)
Since the world came into existence, there have been many natural disasters in Beijing. China being the second largest country has hosted five of the world’s top ten disastrous natural calamities. Because of its geological setting, Beijing has suffered from loss of millions of lives and properties, which they are still trying to recover.
Geological Setting of Beijing
China is located in the North East on the globe. Loess plateau and alluvial lands are the historical centers of Chinese culture. China has mountainous landscapes, and great rivers flow there. After conducting research, geologists claimed that China is one of the most complicated tectonic areas in the world. The tectonics are based on three Precambrian cratons which are Sino-Korean, Tarim and Yangtze-Cathaysian and on the Paleozoic accretionary and collisional folded belts which are The Huanan Caledonides, Ogchean belt, The Tan-Lu fault and The Honam fault (Ien).
Beijing is the capital of China and marks as the third largest city in terms of population. Beijing is positioned in the North of China, opening itself to the South and East of China. The northwestern part of China is covered with mountains while the western part has hills. The Great Wall of China runs across the northern part of Beijing. There are major rivers flowing such as Chaobai, Yongding, and Juma. Considering all these, Beijing is a hub of natural disasters since the beginning.
Beijing and the other cities in Northern China experience more natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods as it has intense seismicity. Most of the earthquakes occur in the Indo-Eurasian plate boundary zone and in the Northern China blocks. The plate tectonics are complicated in the Northern part of China, mostly considering Beijing. Geologists define plate tectonics as the moving of plates which has built the surface of the Earth. They use plate tectonics to explain the movements of the Earth’s lithosphere that has led to the formation of landscape features all over the world today. It is a theory which explains that the Earth is made up of several individual plates that are broken down into numerous pieces of solid rock in all sizes. The main types of metamorphic rocks are meta-arkosic leuco-leptite, hornblendic rocks and semipelitic biotite leptite and biotite gneiss (Ien). The movement of these plates depends on the mantle convection, gravitational forces, and the rotation of the Earth. There is a strong influence of Indo-Asian collisions on motion in China. There is intense seismicity in Beijing, which is concentrated in the circum-Ordhos rifts and reflect the control over lithospheric heterogeneity.
Social Setting in Beijing
With a population of 20,150,000 as recorded in the year 2013, Beijing has very high risks to take care in consideration. As surveyed, 81.58 million people were affected by disasters and 3.33 million people were asked to shift their homes. More than 293,000 houses collapsed, and 1.48 million houses were damaged badly. 7.81 million hectares of farmland were affected, causing 1.2 million hectares to be unable to yield any further crops. These enormities resulted in economics losses of around 121.53 billion yuan (Zhi).
The drainage system is dated back to 1950s and is left open to sewers and canals which lead to floods. The infrastructure is poor which damages the bridges, buildings, and houses. There is a shortage of water in the desert areas which leads to drought and famines.
Geohazards
Beijing is mostly affected by earthquakes, floods, droughts and geological hazards. These natural hazards have cost China 421 billion yuan, that is, $69 billion as recorded in the year 2013.
Beijing has been experiencing sandstorms since the 13th century, in the desert areas where there is no rain at all. In the spring 1998 there was a severe sandstorm with the muddy rain. Because of its intense plate tectonics, it experiences several dreadful earthquakes like the Tangshan Earthquake in Southeast of Beijing which had a magnitude of 7.5. It killed 650,000 people and injured more than 790,000. In July 2012, Beijing was hit by a flood after heavy rain which resulted in the loss of lives of 79 people. Around 57,000 people were immediately evacuated. It has been recorded that over the past 1,000 years, Beijing has experienced 120 worse floods.
Public Policy
Beijing is more prone to natural disasters than any other city in China. This is because of the intense plate tectonics that increase the movements in the Earth which results in earthquakes, floods, and droughts. They can be prevented by various means which would save people residing in the city from dying and losing their homes and properties. This can be done by implementing effective monitoring (like seismic monitoring), having flood defenses, educating people and making them evacuate and establishing detective systems.
The economic foundation needs to be strengthened which would handle the infrastructure construction after the disaster. The management system needs to be enhanced to support the provincial and municipal government departments and construct institutions to promote earthquake prevention methods and disaster mitigation. Long-term and short-term planning should be done and the recovery time should be short. Scientific and technological techniques of prevention should be implemented. To prevent sandstorms, desertification should be prevented.
Conclusion
Natural disasters are calamities with dreadful effects. The natural disasters are inevitable. The losses of property and lives can be recovered if there are proper planning and management, and preventive measures are effectively used. Beijing can save its millions of people if they are fully prepared for the natural disaster that might occur.
Work Cited
Birsel, Robert. "Costs of Natural Disasters in China Surge to $69 Billion." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
Ien, Hsiang. Precambrian Geology and Metamorphic Petrology: Proceedings of the 30th International Geological Congress, Beijing, China, 4-14 August 1996. Utrecht, The Netherlands: VSP, 1997. Print.
"I. Natural Disasters in China -- Beijing Review." I.. . Natural Disasters in China -- Beijing Review. BJ Review, 12 May 2009. Web. 29 Apr. 2015
Zhi, Chen. "Natural Disasters Kill 461 in July." ReliefWeb. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
