Natural disasters in China divine retribution: "tianzai" (天災), literally 'heavenly disaster'. In ancient beliefs, natural disasters were seen as Heaven’s response to immoral human behaviour, whereby the conduct of different individuals carried different weights. While the behaviour of common people ranked last, the actions of bureaucrats had a greater effect. Given that in Imperial China the emperor's behaviour was believed to be the most important, popular belief was that the emperor should attempt to prevent disasters by ensuring his conduct was in following with moral codes – and if a disaster should occur, he was responsible for addressing the consequences. According to the Overseas
Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, commonly abbreviated to Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, draws together all of Australia and New Zealand's fire and emergency service authorities, land management agencies, as well as non-government organisations and leading experts across a range of scientific fields to explore the causes, consequences and mitigation of natural disasters. The CRC has special focus on the human, infrastructure, and governance aspects of natural hazards including: earthquake, tsunami, flood, cyclone, and bushfire. The CRC was launched at Parliament House Canberra by the Minister for Justice, the Hon Michael Keenan,