Response to Earthquakes in China

A Case Study of Wenchuan Earthquake

Tong Mingkang
President of ICOMOS CHINA
March 11 2009
I. China’s cultural heritage and natural disasters it faces

37 world heritage sites, including 26 cultural, 7 natural and 4 mixed.

 registered immovable
monuments and sites
400,000,
under state-level
protection 2,351,
under province-level
protection 8,831,
under city/county-
level protection 58,371
 110 cities and 251 historically and culturally towns or villages have
been proclaimed as famous places.
 cont i nent al ear t hquakes wi t h a
magni t ude of 7. 0 or above i n t he
20t h cent ur y

35%
China is one of the countries
suffering the most intensive and serious
earthquakes and having the largest
65%
earthquake deaths in the world.

ot her ar eas Chi na

Chi na’ s t er r i t or y makes up onl y deat hs caused by ear t hquakes i n

7% of t he l and ar ea of t he wor l d t he 20t h cent ur y
7%

590000 610000
49% 51%

93%

ot her ar eas Chi na ot her ar eas Chi na

II. Damage to cultural heritage caused by Wenchuan
Earthquake

14:28, May 12, 2008

Wenchuan County
Sichuan Province
Beijing
West China
8.0 Richter scale

Wenchuan

The sketch map of Wenchuan Earthquake

seismic intensity map

Striking：
417 counties,
Gansu 16 provinces and municipalities,
Shaanxi 440,000 km2 area.
69,227 dead.
17,923 missing.
374,643 injured.
1,486,407 rescued and relocated.
Sichuan
economic losses 800 billion RMB,
 In the worst-hit area of
Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi
provinces, 134 monuments
Gansu
under state-level protection
Shaanxi
and 242 under province-level
protection as well as 4,000
pieces of museum collection
have been damaged to
various extents.
Sichuan
 Cultural heritage resources of Qiang ethnic group have suffered huge
losses in the earthquake, as they are all distributed in the worst-hit area.
 Qiang village in Taoping
post-earthquake before earthquake
 Qiang village in Taoping
post-earthquake before earthquake
 Damages to historic buildings caused by the earthquake are
categorized by four types:
A. Buildings that completely collapsed;

Lingbao Monastery, located in Sichuan

province, before earthquake
post-earthquake
B. Structures heavily damaged and buildings that partially collapsed;
C. Structures partially damaged;
D. Structures left basically intact, but with decorations damaged.
 After-quake surveys indicate routine maintenance is vital to the
protection of Oriental wooden and brick-and-stone structures against
earthquake attacks.
crack
 III. Actions taken to rescue and protect earthquake-hit
cultural heritage
The first step was to immediately launched emergency
mechanisms for disaster relief and reconstruction.
Local staffs are surveying damages to cultural heritage on the spot
 temporary measures being taken
instantly to prevent from further
damages
The square of Jinsha Site Museum after earthquake
 The second step involved launching surveys and assessments on
the damages and after-quake protection.

Expert
Expertsgroup is reviewing
are assessing protection
damages plans.heritage.
to cultural
Some of the plan and design texts
 The third step mobilized qualified institutes nationwide to provide
technical aid.

To sign counterpart aiding agreement

 The fourth step included implementing projects to rescue and protect
quake-hit cultural properties in a scientific, step-by-step manner.

rescue and protection project of Dujiangyan Irrigation System, the World Heritage
before professional cleaning

after professional cleaning

before professional cleaning

after professional cleaning

Recyclable roof tiles are sorted out and place in order.
Inscribed carvings and building components are numbered and stored collectively.
 The fifth step was to give priority to the rescue and protection of
the cultural heritage of Tibetan and Qiang ethnic groups.

rescue and protection project of Qiang village in Taoping

rescue and protection project of Diaolou tower in Maerkang
 Training courses have been offered to local artisans in the
restoration of Tibetan and Qiang cultural property.
 IV. Some experiences and ideas to share with
colleagues

A well-developed, effective precaution and relief system should

consist of five elements :
1.The improved laws and regulations.
2.The scientific emergency response mechanisms and plans.
3.The detailed archives on cultural heritage resources.
4.The effective monitoring and assessment systems.
5.The well-established institutions for cultural heritage
conservation.
 Following principles should be abided by during post-quake
rescue and protection:
1.Priority for structure rescue.
2.Priority to the protection in original site.
3.Priority to traditional approaches of restoration.
4.Priority to earthquake precaution and disaster relief.
5.Distinguishing while in-site cleaning.
 Colleagues who delivered condolence letters are as
follows:
Gustavo Araoz, Vice
President of ICOMOS and
Secretary General of
ICOMOS USA
Mounir Bouchenaki, Director
General of ICOMOS
Francesco Bandarin,
Director of World Heritage
Center of UNESCO
Jean-Louis Luxento, former
Secretary General of
ICOMOS and a colleague
form Belgium
Sheridan Burke, former Vice
President of ICOMOS and a
colleague from Australia
Dinu Bumbaru, Secretary
General of ICOMOS
Canada
Lazar Sumanov, Executive
Committee Member of
Macedonian nationality of
ICOMOS
Jukka Jokilehto,
internationally renowned
expert on cultural heritage
Amund Sinding-Larsen,
President of ICOMOS
Norway
Pat Wijeratne, former
President of ICOMOS Sri
Lanka
Colleagues who donated
are as follows:
이상해, President of ICOMOS Mrs. Benedicte Selfslagh,
Korea Executive Committee
Member of ICOMOS
김병모, Korean cultural
ambassador from Institute Peter Phillips, President of
under Korea Commission of ICOMOS Australia
Cultural Heritages
Mrs. Kristal Buckley, Vice
이혜은, Executive Committee President of ICOMOS
Member of Korean
nationality of ICOMOS Mrs. Sheridan Burke, former
Vice President of ICOMOS
Masaru Maeno, President of
ICOMOS Japan Mr. Robert Moore, Australia
Expert
 The World Heritage Committee provided 80, 000 US dollars to be
spent on the assessment of damages to World Heritage sites Mt.
Qingcheng and Dujiangyan Irrigation System and the Habitat of
Giant Panda.
Chinese participants were invited to present reports on China’s
solutions at international conferences such as the ICOMOS Asia-
Pacific Regional Meeting in June, the 32nd session of the World
Heritage Committee in July, and the 16th ICOMOS General
Assembly in September 2008.
From 9 to 13 February, 2009, China and Japan held a joint
symposium in Sichuan to exchange views on the practices and
experiences in protecting cultural heritage against earthquakes, and
post-quake rescue and protection of cultural heritage.
Thank you!