How did the Chinese Public Discuss the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake and the Humanitarian Response on Social Media? A Topical and Sentimental Analysis

Abstract International disaster response and humanitarian actors are important for mega-disaster relief, especially for disasters occurring in developing countries. China has been very active in international disaster response in the last decade, and both governmental agencies and nongovernmental or...

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Main Authors: Mengfan Shen, Haoxuan Xu, Hongbing Liu, Ziqiang Han
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-06-01
Series:International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-025-00641-6
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author Mengfan Shen
Haoxuan Xu
Hongbing Liu
Ziqiang Han
author_facet Mengfan Shen
Haoxuan Xu
Hongbing Liu
Ziqiang Han
author_sort Mengfan Shen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract International disaster response and humanitarian actors are important for mega-disaster relief, especially for disasters occurring in developing countries. China has been very active in international disaster response in the last decade, and both governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations have been involved. This study investigated the narratives of the Chinese public on social media regarding the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake. Social media data from Weibo between 6 February and 5 March 2023 were collected, and topic modeling and emotion analysis were performed. The results show that the term “Türkiye Earthquake” was primarily used, followed by “Türkiye and Syria Earthquake,” while the term “Syria Earthquake” was used least. The general public tended to use the “Türkiye Earthquake,” while news media and institutions mainly used the “Türkiye-Syria” expression. The posts primarily discussed Chinese disaster and humanitarian response activities (including impacts, rescue efforts, and survivor stories), and the primary emotion expressed was positive. In posts about Syria, sanctions from the United States emerged as an independent topic, and negative emotions were associated with it. This study contributes to disaster studies regarding the public’s attitudes toward international disasters and humanitarian efforts using social media data on real cases.
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spelling doaj-art-a9fe25b8c7484d669ae870f330937a372025-08-20T04:01:24ZengSpringerOpenInternational Journal of Disaster Risk Science2095-00552192-63952025-06-0116336137510.1007/s13753-025-00641-6How did the Chinese Public Discuss the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake and the Humanitarian Response on Social Media? A Topical and Sentimental AnalysisMengfan Shen0Haoxuan Xu1Hongbing Liu2Ziqiang Han3School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong UniversitySchool of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong UniversitySchool of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong UniversitySchool of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong UniversityAbstract International disaster response and humanitarian actors are important for mega-disaster relief, especially for disasters occurring in developing countries. China has been very active in international disaster response in the last decade, and both governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations have been involved. This study investigated the narratives of the Chinese public on social media regarding the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake. Social media data from Weibo between 6 February and 5 March 2023 were collected, and topic modeling and emotion analysis were performed. The results show that the term “Türkiye Earthquake” was primarily used, followed by “Türkiye and Syria Earthquake,” while the term “Syria Earthquake” was used least. The general public tended to use the “Türkiye Earthquake,” while news media and institutions mainly used the “Türkiye-Syria” expression. The posts primarily discussed Chinese disaster and humanitarian response activities (including impacts, rescue efforts, and survivor stories), and the primary emotion expressed was positive. In posts about Syria, sanctions from the United States emerged as an independent topic, and negative emotions were associated with it. This study contributes to disaster studies regarding the public’s attitudes toward international disasters and humanitarian efforts using social media data on real cases.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-025-00641-6Emotion analysisHumanitarian responsePublic sentimentTopic analysisTürkiye-Syria Earthquake
spellingShingle Mengfan Shen
Haoxuan Xu
Hongbing Liu
Ziqiang Han
How did the Chinese Public Discuss the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake and the Humanitarian Response on Social Media? A Topical and Sentimental Analysis
International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Emotion analysis
Humanitarian response
Public sentiment
Topic analysis
Türkiye-Syria Earthquake
title How did the Chinese Public Discuss the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake and the Humanitarian Response on Social Media? A Topical and Sentimental Analysis
title_full How did the Chinese Public Discuss the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake and the Humanitarian Response on Social Media? A Topical and Sentimental Analysis
title_fullStr How did the Chinese Public Discuss the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake and the Humanitarian Response on Social Media? A Topical and Sentimental Analysis
title_full_unstemmed How did the Chinese Public Discuss the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake and the Humanitarian Response on Social Media? A Topical and Sentimental Analysis
title_short How did the Chinese Public Discuss the 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake and the Humanitarian Response on Social Media? A Topical and Sentimental Analysis
title_sort how did the chinese public discuss the 2023 turkiye syria earthquake and the humanitarian response on social media a topical and sentimental analysis
topic Emotion analysis
Humanitarian response
Public sentiment
Topic analysis
Türkiye-Syria Earthquake
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-025-00641-6
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