China built an early earthquake warning system in Sichuan

China has built an early earthquake warning system in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, Southwest China, thereby exploiting radio-television systems to warn people a few seconds of time. before the seismic wave.

According to a reporter in China, in an earthquake prevention exercise on May 9, the Chengdu government sent an early warning through radio stations, TV stations and mobile phones to 60 communities. in Chengdu Hi-Tech Park.

Rescue workers on duty at a collapsed building in Sichuan in August 2017.(Source: THX / TTXVN).

The director of Chengdu Hi-tech Disaster Mitigation Institute, Mr. Wang Don said that this system - supported with advanced technology from the Internet of Things - theorized that radio waves move faster than seismic waves , thereby informing everyone a few seconds before an earthquake occurs.

According to Mr. Wang Don, earthquake research has found that if alerted to an earthquake before 3 seconds will be able to save 14% of casualties, before 10 seconds can save 39% of casualties, and 20 seconds have 63% of casualties can be saved.

This has turned China into the third country in the world with the ability to alert earthquakes early, after Japan and Mexico.

China has started construction of 2,000 monitoring stations in neighboring Sichuan Province and Yunnan Province to collect data on underground stresses and energy below the Earth's surface from 8-20km, thereby creating conditions for Researchers better monitor seismic activities and give earthquake forecasts.