Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Soon after the massive earthquake devastated Nepal, China quickly sent supplies and experienced rescue workers to the country. Nepal plays a critical role in connecting China and South Asia, as well as in the implementation of the "One Belt and One Road" initiative. The latest disaster can also prompt thinking in how China can play a leading role in disaster prevention and relief in the region.

South Asian countries have been victimized by several powerful earthquakes that tragically caused large number of casualties. The 2001 earthquake that hit India's Gujarat took more than 20,000 lives. The 7.6-magnitude earthquake that struck Pakistan in 2005 led to over 73,000 people killed, about 70,000 injured and 3.5 million homeless. It is believed that strong earthquakes will continue to strike the region in the years to come.

Apart from geological reasons, a key cause of such major casualties in these countries is their backward social and economic development. As seismologist James Jackson, head of the earth sciences department at the University of Cambridge said, "It's buildings that kill people not earthquakes." If a similarly intense earthquake happened in the US, Nepal, China and Pakistan, there would be a huge disparity in the casualties caused.

GeoHazards International, a non-profit organization, seems to have foreseen Nepal's disaster in a report published earlier this month. It warned that Nepal faces serious risks of earthquake destruction because there is no control over property development, no building codes in place or renovation of damaged old buildings. Meanwhile, Kathmandu is one of the most densely populated regions in the world.

In fact, the Nepal earthquake again reminds people of how vulnerable many Asia-Pacific countries can be in face of natural disasters. Calamities like floods, droughts, typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis pose serious threats to ordinary people. In many circumstances, it is the human factor rather than natural one that decides the severity of the loss.

According to the Disasters in Asia and the Pacific: 2014 Year in Review released in March by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, over half of the 226 natural disasters across the world last year happened in the Asia-Pacific region, which caused the deaths of more than 6,000 people, 79 million affected and an economic loss of about $59 billion. Of the natural disasters in the region, 88 percent were floods and geological disasters, with India and China struck most severely.

This may get even worse in the future. As the climate change hasn't been tackled sufficiently and the Asia-Pacific region remains poorly prepared for floods and landslides, these disasters will likely increase dramatically as a result of climate change.

Against this backdrop, China needs more investment in disaster prevention and relief in developing the "One Belt and One Road," and should work with major regional countries like India and Indonesia to face the challenges.

Efforts are needed to improve the institutions for disaster warning and relief and enhance bilateral and multilateral cooperation. In addition to this, infrastructure development in roads and electricity needs to be promoted. Moreover, there should be platforms for sharing data and the benefits of spatial information technology. China can contribute by helping countries along the "One Belt and One Road" build their disaster warning capabilities with cutting-edge technologies.

More importantly, countries need to share experiences and lessons in handling major natural disasters through frequent personnel exchange and disaster rescue exercises to improve regional cooperation. There should be more exercises like those conducted in China and Malaysia supported by programs like the ASEAN Regional Forum. China's reconstruction experience can and should also be shared.

Undoubtedly the disaster prevention and relief rely on a nation's development. The advancement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank demonstrates that opportunity management has caught attention of many countries, yet the latest tragedy shows that crisis management is of the same importance. After all, survival is the top priority, but it can't be guaranteed without development. China should put more thoughts on it in pushing forward such initiatives.

The author is a research fellow with the Charhar Institute and an adjunct fellow with the Center for International and Strategic Studies, Peking University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

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