On July 26, the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) announced that the country has completed the “National Earthquake Early Warning Project” – the largest earthquake early warning network in the world.
According to Xinhua News Agency, in a statement to the press, CEA Deputy Director Yin Chao Min stated that this project provides the public with earthquake early warning services and rapid earthquake intensity reporting, through the deployment of 15,899 monitoring stations across China.
A staff member introduces the earthquake early warning system to reporters in Guangdong Province, southern China, in October 2019 – (Photo: CGTN/CFP).
Yin mentioned that the early warnings can reach the public through television, IPTV systems, mobile applications such as WeChat and Alipay, as well as local radio broadcasts.
Earthquake early warnings will be issued based on the dense network of seismic monitoring stations, before the destructive seismic waves arrive.
The public can take precautionary measures to reduce casualties after receiving warnings a few seconds to several tens of seconds before an earthquake occurs.
According to Yin, through this project, China has achieved significant breakthroughs in core technology for earthquake early warning and rapid intensity reporting.
The overall performance of this system is on par with advanced international standards.
China’s earthquake early warning network can detect earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5 and above in most areas of the country.
In eastern regions, the project can detect any earthquake with a magnitude of 2.0 and above. For densely populated areas such as the capital and the Yangtze River Delta, the project will detect any earthquake with a magnitude of 1.0 and above.
The network has now been integrated with various industries such as railways, pipelines, power grids, nuclear energy, and natural gas.
China is a country that records numerous earthquakes. In 2023, the country experienced 18 earthquakes with a magnitude above 5.
