From lectures to drills, a series of earthquake preparedness activities were held across China on Sunday, as May 12 marks the National Disaster Prevention and Reduction Day, which commemorates the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake that left more than 80,000 people dead or missing in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The day was established in 2009 to raise public awareness about disaster prevention and to increase knowledge and skills to enable survivors to better cope with during and after disasters, according to China National Commission for Disaster Reduction.
On Sunday, the first National Earthquake Prevention and Disaster Reduction Science Popularization Home Event, which is organized by the China Earthquake Administration (CEA), is held in Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province.
During the event, four well-known experts including Chen Yong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a geophysicist, delivered speeches from different perspectives such as Earth science, rural earthquake resistance, massive earthquake and disaster prevention, and earthquake early warning. Meanwhile, the lectures are webcast live, presenting the knowledge to a wider group of people.
"When a massive earthquake strikes, people got very short time - a few seconds, at most one minute (to escape). People must have enough knowledge, skills and training to instinctively choose the safest and most reasonable ways to avoid earthquake hazards," said Gao Mengtan, an expert from the Institute of Geophysics under the China Earthquake Administration (CEA).
Similar themed activities including lectures, exhibitions, book donations are slated to be held nationwide to raise public awareness about earthquake prevention and to increase knowledge and skills to enable survivors to better cope with during and after the disaster.
Mianyang City in southwest China's Sichuan Province carried out an emergency drill to test helicopters and drones' response to an earthquake.
Schools across the country also organized earthquake drills. In Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, firefighters taught students how to use earthquake rescue equipment such as life detectors and hydraulic demolition crusher.
Emergency authorities across China hold various activities to enhance public capabilities surviving earthquake
A Brazilian national who was deported by the United States in January this year recounted the discriminatory and inhumane treatment he encountered during the repatriation in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).
Jefferson Faustino was among the 88 deported Brazilians sent by a charter flight from the U.S. to Manaus, a city in northern Brazil, on Jan 24.
During dozens of hours of flight, they were handcuffed, shackled, and denied food and bathroom, and they almost lost their lives to an air conditioning fault, according to Faustino.
"They gave us water in very small bottles on the plane. And I couldn't drink it, because my hands were cuffed to the waist chain. So I had to bend down hard and squash the bottle to spray water into my mouth, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to reach the water at all. Even by doing so, I couldn't get water. When I squeeze the bottle, the water sprayed out and soaked me all over. In the 48 hours of repatriation, they distributed food only one time. It was a spoiled sandwich. The sandwich they gave turned purplish color. I was starving. What could I do? I had to eat," Faustino said.
"In the 48 hours of repatriation, they distributed food only one time. It was a spoiled sandwich. The sandwich they gave me was purple. I was starving. What could I do? I had to eat," he added.
Meanwhile, the American crew enjoyed fresh food and water, Faustino told CCTV.
"No, they had very good food. Every meal, they went over there to heat up box lunches and drink water. The cabin cabinets were full of lunch boxes, full of food, but they didn't give us that food," he said.
The Brazilian deportees protested the unfair treatment and asked for the food and water, but they were not given a response, because of the language barrier, Faustino recalled.
"Yes, we asked. We spoke loudly to them, but the crew didn't speak Portuguese or Spanish, only English. It's a humiliation to us the Brazilians, because we didn't have food and couldn't use the bathroom. The children were crying," he said.
After the plane arrived in Manaus, the air conditioning system broke down and the crew got off the plane, leaving the deportees suffocating in the enclosure.
"People couldn't breathe. The cabin was out of air. I managed to open an emergency exit door and shouted to the police: 'Help! Help! Help!' I yelled for help, asking them to come and save us, because I thought I was dying, I was dying," Faustino said.
The Brazilian government deemed this treatment "degrading" and "unacceptable", with the country's foreign ministry summoning the charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy to request an explanation over the issue on Jan 26.
"The U.S. government should be held accountable. Why didn't they train these people responsible for transporting deportees. Since the Trump administration came to power, it has created conflicts in American society and adopted policies that are completely against democracy and public opinion, disrupting relations between the U.S. and its economic and political partners," said Rinaldo Leal, a Brazilian lawyer.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed on his inauguration day an executive order that called for mass deportations of undocumented migrants. Since then, raids and deportations of undocumented migrants, especially those from Latin America, have continued to ramp up.
Brazilian deportee recounts inhumane treatment during flight from US
Brazilian deportee recounts inhumane treatment during flight from US
