Ministry of Emergency Management: In the first three quarters, various natural disasters caused 89.118 million disasters

China News Network, October 8 According to the website of the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Ministry of Emergency Management released the national natural disaster situation in the first three quarters of 2023 on the 8th. In the first three quarters, the situation of natural disasters in the mainland was complex and severe, mainly floods, droughts, typhoons, hailstorms and geological disasters, low-temperature freezing and snow disasters, earthquakes, sandstorms, forest and grassland fires, etc. also occurred to varying degrees. Various natural disasters caused a total of 89.118 million people affected to varying degrees, 499 people died and disappeared due to disasters, and 2.751 million people were urgently evacuated and resettled; 118,000 houses collapsed, 422,000 were seriously damaged, and 1.035 million were generally damaged; 9,714.8 thousand hectares of crops were affected; and direct economic losses amounted to 308.29 billion yuan.

The main characteristics of natural disasters in the country in the first three quarters are:

First, the characteristics of natural disasters in the country are obvious in time and space, and the disaster situation is "heavy in the north and light in the south, and the east is heavy on the west"

From the perspective of disaster occurrence time, from January to March, except for the continuous drought in winter and spring in southwest China and the major avalanche disaster in Nyingchi, Tibet, the disaster situation in the whole country was relatively stable. In early summer, the water intensity of dragon boats in South China was relatively weak, and the continuous rain in Henan and other places adversely affected the summer harvest. After entering the "seven downs and eight ups", it has suffered major disasters such as the super typhoon "Du Surui", the exceptionally large flood in the Haihe River Basin, and the serious flood situation in the Songliao River Basin within more than 20 days, causing heavy casualties and property losses. From the perspective of regional distribution, the disaster situation shows the characteristics of "heavy in the north, light in the south, heavy in the east, and light in the west". Compared with the same period in the past five years, the disaster situation in North China and Northeast China is heavier, and the disaster situation in Southwest China and Northwest China is lighter.

Second, North China and Northeast China suffered from extremely heavy rainfall, and local flash floods and geological disasters were sudden

In the first three quarters, there were 35 regional rainstorm processes across the country, with a cumulative surface rainfall of 534 mm, 5% less than the same period of the year, and the distribution of precipitation was uneven in time and space. The total runoff of major rivers in the country is less than the same period of the year, and the Songhua River and Liaohe River are 2-3% more. Affected by the residual cloud system of Typhoon Du Surui, from the end of July to the beginning of August, extreme rainstorms occurred in North China and Northeast China, basin-wide floods occurred in the Haihe River Basin, numbered floods occurred in the Songhua River, some areas suffered "rapid changes in drought and flood", many flood storage and detention areas in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and other places were opened, some farmland in Heilongjiang and Jilin was flooded, and infrastructure was seriously damaged. Flash flood geological disasters in the southwest and northwest are distributed in many points, and a total of 271 people are missing due to flash flood geological disasters nationwide. Overall, floods and geological disasters caused a total of 51.904 million people affected to varying degrees, 405 people died and disappeared, 112,000 houses collapsed, and direct economic losses amounted to 239.3 billion yuan.

Third, the southwest region suffered from continuous drought in winter and spring, and the north and northwest regions experienced periodic drought

In the first three quarters, successive droughts occurred in southwest China, local summer droughts in North and Northeast China, and autumn droughts in northwest China. At the beginning of the year, most of the precipitation in southwest China was significantly less than the same period of the year, the temperature was high, and the drought in Yunnan, Guichuan, Sichuan, Chongqing and other places developed rapidly, resulting in a certain impact on agricultural production and urban and rural water supply in mountainous and hilly areas. From the end of May to July, there were eight consecutive high temperature weather processes in North China, Huanghuai and other places, and the high temperature in many places exceeded the historical extreme, and the extreme high temperature adversely affected crop growth, power supply, forest fire prevention, etc. Since mid-June, precipitation in western Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, most of Gansu, eastern Qinghai and other places has been relatively small, reservoir water storage is insufficient, and temporary difficulties have occurred in drinking water and agricultural irrigation for people and livestock in some areas, affecting agricultural and animal husbandry production to a certain extent. In general, the drought disaster in the first three quarters caused 20.122 million people to varying degrees of disaster, the affected area of crops was 3186.8 thousand hectares, and the direct economic loss was 19.71 billion yuan.

Fourth, the number of typhoons generated and landed is small, and the impact of strong typhoons is wide and the losses are heavier

In the first three quarters, a total of 14 typhoons formed in the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea, less than the average for the same period in many years, of which 4 made landfall. On July 17-18, Typhoon No. 4 "Teli" made landfall in Guangdong and Guangxi three times, making its first typhoon to make landfall on the mainland this year, 20 days later than the usual landfall time at the beginning of the year. On July 28, Typhoon No. 5 "Du Surui" made landfall along the Jinjiang River in Fujian, the second strongest typhoon to make landfall in Fujian since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and serious urban waterlogging and flash floods occurred in Fujian, Zhejiang and other places; In addition, its residual cloud system moved northward, causing a significant impact on North China and Northeast China. On September 2, Typhoon Sura No. 9 made landfall along the southern coast of Zhuhai, Guangdong, causing damage in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan and other places. In early September, Typhoon No. 11 "Anemone" made landfall on the mainland three times, and the remnants of the cloud system continued to hover along the southeast coast, causing damage in Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places. Overall, the typhoon disaster caused a total of 8.078 million people to be affected, 8 people died and disappeared, and the direct economic loss was 32.48 billion yuan, and Fujian and Guangdong provinces were relatively severely affected.

Fifth, hail disasters are distributed in many points, and Jiangsu is affected by strong tornadoes

In the first three quarters, there were 33 strong convective weather processes in the country, which was less than the average value of the same period in the past five years. From the perspective of time distribution, strong convective weather mainly appeared in spring and summer, and the first strong convective weather process occurred from March 22 to 26, with 12 strong convective processes in spring, 18 times in summer and 3 times in autumn. From the perspective of regional distribution, more than 980 counties (cities and districts) across the country have been affected by hailstorm disasters, mainly distributed in North China, Northwest, Southwest and Huanghuai, the northern region is concentrated in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Xinjiang and other places, and the southern region is concentrated in Jiangsu, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places. From June to September, tornadoes in Nantong, Yancheng, Suqian and other places in Jiangsu Province killed a total of 14 people. Overall, the hailstorm disaster caused a total of 5.773 million people affected to varying degrees, 53 people died due to the disaster, the area of crops affected was 1136.4 thousand hectares, and the direct economic loss was 11.34 billion yuan.

6. The western region suffered from low temperature freezing and snow disasters, and a major avalanche disaster occurred in Nyingchi, Tibet

In the first three quarters, the mainland suffered a total of 8 cold air processes, which was more than the average value of the same period of the year. Among them, 3 were national cold wave weather processes. From late April to early May, cold air processes occurred in North China, Northwest China and other places, cold wave weather occurred in some areas, and local cooling was greatly reduced, and the disaster situation in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang and other places was more serious. On January 17, an avalanche in Nyingchi, Tibet, killed 28 people, the deadliest avalanche disaster in recent years. In general, in the first three quarters, a total of 3.028 million people were affected by the low-temperature freezing and snow disasters to varying degrees, 30 people died due to the disaster, the area of crops affected was 506.1 thousand hectares, and the direct economic loss was 4.51 billion yuan.

7. The number of moderate and strong seismic activities has decreased significantly, and Yunnan, Shandong and other local areas have been affected by earthquakes

In the first three quarters, a total of 59 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or higher occurred in mainland China, including 54 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0–4.9, 4 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0–5.9, and 1 earthquake of magnitude 6 or above. The number of earthquakes above magnitude 5 decreased significantly from the average level of the same period of the calendar year. Among them, the 6.1 magnitude earthquake in Shaya on January 30 and the 5.1 magnitude earthquake in Wensu, Xinjiang on February 27 were both located in sparsely populated areas and did not cause major disaster losses. On May 2, the 5.2-magnitude earthquake in Baoshan, Yunnan, damaged 13,000 houses in Baoshan and Dali cities (prefectures), damaged some transportation, electricity and other infrastructure, and caused direct economic losses of 220 million yuan. The 5.5-magnitude earthquake in Pingyuan County, Shandong on August 6, was the strongest earthquake to occur in the province in recent years, causing damage to more than 2,900 houses and direct economic losses of 240 million yuan. Overall, the number of medium-strong earthquakes in the first three quarters dropped significantly, and the disaster losses were lighter than the same period of previous years, causing a total of 21,000 house damage and direct economic losses of 660 million yuan.

8. The situation of forest and grassland fires is generally stable, and the regional distribution is relatively concentrated

In the first three quarters, there were 308 forest fires across the country, with 5 casualties (including 2 deaths). The total number of forest fires is at a record low, 192 fewer than the same period last year; The distribution area is concentrated, with more than 30 fires in Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Heilongjiang and Yunnan, which is the main area for forest fires. There were 72 forest fires caused by lightning strikes, accounting for 27% of the fires identified. A total of 15 grassland fires occurred in the country, including 1 extra-large grassland fire, and 1 person died due to the disaster, concentrated in April, mainly in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.