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China Reports Higher Accuracy in Earthquake Forecasting
The accuracy of China's earthquake forecasts has increased from 20 percent in 1996 to 30 percent at present, reaching the international level, Thursday's Science and Technology Daily reports.
Of the ten areas predicted in 1999 to be in danger of earthquakes in 2000, five were hit by earthquakes measuring above 5.0 on the Richter Scale, leading to a record 47 percent accuracy, the daily quotes Yin Zhaomin, an official from China Seismological Bureau, as saying.
Yin attributed the higher accuracy to the technological renovations of China's earthquake surveillance networks and stations from 1996 to 2000.
"Today, most surveillance instruments are undergoing an analog- digital conversion. New technologies have enabled seismologists to respond faster in earthquake prediction," Yin said.
In east China, where a network of digital remote surveillance stations has been built, prediction for a potential earthquake takes only 5 to 15 minutes, as against 30 minutes in the past, said Yin.
According to Yin, a comprehensive study into the data of some 100 earthquakes since 1966 will also help seismologists understand the different phenomena that may foreshadow an earthquake.
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