Quantitative assessment and dynamic characteristic measurement of regional resilience: From the perspective of post-earthquakes effects

Strong geological disasters have caused persistent losses in society, economy, and ecological environments. Given the unique geographical settings of the stricken areas, their resilience is prone to damage or even loss. Comprehensive risk assessment of natural disasters is the core content and important foundation for building regional resilience. Therefore, conducting dynamic characteristics analysis of resilience in mountainous disaster areas impacted by strong earthquake geological disasters is vital for ensuring the region's high-quality and sustainable development. This article takes the 51 stricken areas of Wenchuan earthquake as the research object. To this end, social, economic and ecological environmental data from 2008 to 2020 was hereby collected. Initially, a regional resilience assessment system based on "socio-economic-ecological environment" was established, considering the long-term and spatial heterogeneity of geological disasters. Secondly, the regional resilience assessment model was constructed using Spectral clustering-genetic algorithm-improved entropy weight method. Following that, the dynamic characteristics of regional resilience were quantitatively analyzed from two aspects, including change velocity state and change rate trend. Finally, based on the regional resilience characteristics, differentiated resilience enhancement strategies were proposed. Collectively, the results revealed that: (1) From a geological disaster standpoint, the risk in post-earthquake disaster areas exhibited a strikingly rapid decline, with the spatial distribution of geological disaster risk being notably higher in the central areas and diminishing towards the peripheries. (2) Overall, the regional resilience of the 51 stricken areas showed a "V-shaped" trend, with a significant upturn since 2012. (3) From the perspective of dynamic characteristics, more counties (cities) presented an upward trend. (4) The 51 stricken areas were hereby divided into the "benchmarking type", the "declination type", the "backward type", and the "potential type". In conclusion, the current study enhances the technical framework for evaluating regional resilience and provides technical support for the construction of resilient cities.