Mature approach

Five years ago, the Wenchuan earthquake prompted many rushed to ground zero, trying to help in any way possible. Although done with good intension, their action also increased the burden on trained rescuers. Roads were blocked by heavy traffic, delaying professional rescue teams that were headed to the disaster area. Some people who went to Wenchuan to provide help even endangered themselves and ended up needing help from others.

Based on these experiences, many microbloggers called on people not to go to Ya'an, so as to give professional rescue teams the space needed to do their jobs effectively.

Lei Xiaoxue, a news anchor for Sichuan TV, who reported on both Wenchuan and Ya'an earthquakes, noted great changes in the way Chinese society worked to help people in the earthquake's aftermath.

"Five years ago, when I was ready to air the news, everything was a mess. Information was coming at me from all sides, and I didn't even know where to start," she said. "Everyone wanted to help, but few knew how."

Now, Lei is still working to report on the disaster relief work, but she said her work is much better organized. "Five years ago, people let their enthusiasm get out of hand, and didn't respond rationally. But now we can help people who suffered from the earthquake more methodically."

Teng attributed these changes to the increasing maturity of Chinese society in responding to disasters, and the nation's rescue system. "In the time between Wenchuan and Lushan, China's emergency rescue system has been greatly improved. Though there are still aspects needing improvement, we have seen a more mature China fighting this natural disaster," he noted.

Smaller economic losses

Just as in the 2008 quake, this most recent earthquake also caused economic losses to Sichuan. According to statistics from IBTimes Chinese, by April 20, the five cities in Sichuan that had been hit by the quake suffered total economic losses of 19.81 billion yuan ($314 million). This figure is far lower than the losses directly caused by the Wenchuan earthquake, which amounted to 845.1 billion yuan ($134.14 billion).

Experts say that the Ya'an earthquake has damaged regional industries, but will have a limited impact on China's national economy. "The earthquake's impact is not very clear at this point. But I believe it will somewhat damage the regional economy in the short term, and that damage will probably rise as calculations and investigations of the losses from the disaster continue," said Ding Ningning, a researcher at the State Council's Development Research Center. "But the earthquake will not greatly hurt China's overall economy because Ya'an, a third-tier city, is neither a raw material production base nor manufacturing zone."

According to Chen Wuyuan, a scientist at the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, Sichuan's potential economic losses following the earthquake will be primarily from the province's tourism sector. Ya'an and the surrounding areas are important scenic spots in Sichuan. In addition, Baoxing, a county seriously hit by the quake, is a panda breeding base.

"Fearing aftershocks, fewer people will go there for a short time," said Chen. "But from a long-term perspective, the impact is limited to Sichuan, as the epicenter, Lushan, is an underdeveloped county with few enterprises. Ya'an economic aggregation is quite small compared with other cities in Sichuan."