Lessons from the school of hard knocks

The earthquake that rocked the Yaan region of Sichuan last month delivered a telling report card on what authorities have learned from the quake that devastated the same region this month five years ago. And it's mostly good news.

More than 87,000 people were killed in 2008's May 12 quake, and 51 counties and cities in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi suffered terrible damage. Some 5,300 of the dead were pupils killed when school buildings, supposed to be stronger than other buildings, collapsed, highlighting flaws in construction management.

The response to that quake exposed a basic lack of knowledge about coping with such natural disasters, a situation that had greatly improved by last month. Those engaged in various relief roles praised the quicker response of rescuers this year, along with more comprehensive relief measures and a freer flow of information.

But the Yaan quake, while 30 times less powerful than the 2008 quake, also offered a glimpse of some persistent problems, such as a lack of co-ordination and co-operation between government and non-governmental relief efforts.

"The improvement is very obvious, especially from the non-governmental perspective," the director of the China Philanthropy Research Institute at Beijing Normal University, Wang Guangyao, said.

The quick response of non-governmental organisations last month set a record, said Wang, who was in charge of disaster relief in 2008 as director of the Civil Affairs Ministry's disaster relief department.

Within two days of the quake, the One Foundation, a charity founded by movie star Jet Li and registered in Shenzhen, had received more than 41 million yuan (HK$51.4 million) in donations.