[Investigation and assessment of damage in earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai based on multi-spectral remote sensing].

The devastating Yushu Earthquake occurred in Qinghai Province, northwest China, with a magnitude of 7.1 on April 14, 2010, which has caused huge destructive losses. Most buildings along the seismic zone were ruined, especially the old and the basic civil structure houses completely destroyed. The earthquake also triggered geological disasters, such as landslides, collapses, debris flows, etc. In the present study, the remote sensing technique was used to assess and analyze the situation of the earthquake damage. There are four classes of feature which can be interpreted according to the remote sensing imageries: (1) the damage degree of buildings, like civilian homes, temples; (2) the field disasters of earthquake, such as ground fissures, landslides, collapses, debris flows, and earthquake subsidence; (3) the damage degree of structures, such as dam; (4) the damage degree of the lifeline, for example, the highway. The features can be obtained according to high spatial resolution of remote sensing imageries, through image processing and interpretation methods. Post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction phase should fully consider the regional seismotectonic background and the carrying capacity of resources and environment. With the assessment results of earthquake disaster remote sensing, at last, preliminary suggestions were proposed for the rehabilitation and reconstruction planning of Yushu earthquake.