Natural disaster mitigation in China: Hazard monitoring using digital techniques

China is a country which suffers from severe natural disasters. Natural disasters lead to direct economic loss and the death of thousands of people every year. China is facing a serious situation in reducing natural disasters. Several cities have taken various information-related measures for disaster protection and reduction. Since the 1970s, Chinese central and local government have developed a digital network for natural disaster mitigation; this is based on GIS, remote sensing and GPS. The authors consider several cases in which there has been successful amelioration in natural disasters using these techniques.