China has unveiled the world’s largest earthquake early warning network, known as the National Earthquake Intensity Rapid Reporting and Early Warning Project. This comprehensive system comprises nearly 15,899 monitoring stations distributed throughout the country, covering areas prone to seismic activity.
It is designed to issue alerts within seconds of detecting an earthquake, allowing the public to take precautionary actions before the more damaging seismic waves reach them.
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The project, which commenced in 2018, has recently become fully operational following the completion of its construction and acceptance tests. The network’s capability to issue alerts within an average of seven seconds in critical regions and between 10 to 30 seconds in other areas represents a significant advancement over earlier systems that required several minutes to report earthquake events.
It can detect tremors as minor as magnitude 2.0 in eastern regions and even smaller quakes in densely populated areas like Beijing and the Yangtze River Delta.
This state-of-the-art early warning system is designed not only to enhance public safety by providing timely alerts but also to integrate with essential infrastructure, including railways, power grids, and nuclear facilities, to facilitate emergency responses.
This major technological milestone positions China among the leading nations with large-scale earthquake early warning capabilities.
