A Composite Catalog of Damaging Earthquakes for Mainland China

Abstract

We have developed a Mainland China Composite Damaging Earthquake Catalog (MCCDE-CAT), which contains seismic source and socioeconomic damage information, population exposure, and seismic intensity maps of earthquakes that occurred from 1950 to 2018. The completeness and consistency of the data in past damaging earthquake catalogs are crucial to better understanding the damage to our social and economic system from future earthquakes. Although many disaster databases are currently available worldwide, they show a serious lack of data and no consistency. To develop the MCCDE-CAT, we cross-checked and integrated earthquake damage information based on six kinds of earthquake catalogs for Mainland China. Missing information in these catalogs was supplied from records in journal publications and reports published by the government and relevant institutions. We also performed a statistical analysis of the data in the MCCDE-CAT and preliminarily discuss the temporal and spatial characteristics of earthquake disasters and socioeconomic losses in Mainland China. The MCCDE-CAT will contribute to loss estimation for damaging earthquakes, earthquake-related product pricing in the reinsurance industry, and other related fields. More importantly, the MCCDE-CAT will be publicly accessible and provide a basis for researchers to pursue other earthquake disaster-related studies.

Rapid Estimation of Earthquake Fatalities in Mainland China Based on Physical Simulation and Empirical Statistics—A Case Study of the 2021 Yangbi Earthquake

“…Li et al compiled an open-source MCCDE-CAT (see Data Availability Statement) from 1950 to 2018 based on six earthquake catalogs. They used a large number of previous studies, reports, and websites to verify and complement the information [ 1 ]. The catalog includes basic seismological data, social and economic loss data, population exposure data, and intensity distribution data for each earthquake event.…”

“…Earthquakes are among the most severely damaging natural disasters on Earth. This is especially true in China, where many catastrophic earthquakes have occurred in recent history, such as the 1976 Tangshan earthquake that caused ~242,000 deaths and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake that caused ~69,000 deaths [ 1 ]. At present, no technology can accurately predict earthquakes.…”

“…Therefore, to rapidly obtain such an estimate after an earthquake in Mainland China, we opted to rely on an empirical method. Li et al developed an earthquake fatality estimation model based on the Mainland China Composite Damaging Earthquake Catalog (MCCDE-CAT) [ 1 , 12 ]. Based on many earthquake events estimations, Li et al verified that the model has an optimal evaluation ability for large earthquakes that resulted in tens of thousands of fatalities, such as the Wenchuan earthquake, and small earthquakes that resulted in relatively few fatalities [ 12 ].…”

Experimental research on seismic response of split‐type prefabricated utility tunnels through shaking table tests

“…China is located between the Circum-Pacific seismic zone and the Eurasian seismic zone, and it is the site of frequent destructive earthquakes. 11 As an important part of urban infrastructure, various pipelines are simultaneously laid inside a utility tunnel. Once the structure of a utility tunnel is severely damaged during an earthquake, the urban lifeline will face the risk of paralysis.…”

“…These joint cause prefabricated utility tunnels to be vulnerable in certain natural disasters or accidents in ways that are different from those of traditional integral cast‐in‐place structures. China is located between the Circum‐Pacific seismic zone and the Eurasian seismic zone, and it is the site of frequent destructive earthquakes 11 . As an important part of urban infrastructure, various pipelines are simultaneously laid inside a utility tunnel.…”