Experts say no scientific proof of active seismic period

China reported multiple earthquakes in different regions, although there is no sufficient scientific proof indicating that the country will enter a period of frequent earthquakes, experts said.

From Oct 1 to Oct 24, there were more than 50 earthquakes across China. On Tuesday and Monday alone, several counties in Taiwan; Tibet autonomous region; Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region; and the provinces of Guangdong, Qinghai and Gansu, reported earthquakes with a maximum magnitude of 5.9, data from the National Earthquake Data Center showed.

"There has been an increased seismic activity of magnitude 4.5 or above in China and its surrounding areas over the past month," Gao Mengtan, specially-invited expert of the Institute of Geophysics of China Earthquake Administration, told China News Service.

China is located in the eastern part of the Eurasian plate, with the Indian Ocean plate to the southwest, the Pacific plate to the east and the American plate to the northeast. The three major regions and the Eurasian plate are in a state of mutual compression, resulting in frequent seismic activities at plate boundaries or nearby areas, Gao said.

"Most seismic belts in China are located in the western, northern and southeastern regions. The geographical location matches the frequency and intensity of current earthquake occurrences, luckily there is no sufficient evidence to predict that China will enter a period of frequent earthquakes," he added.

Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or above bring tremors, and those of 4.5 or above may cause danger, the severity of destruction is influenced by factors such as the depth of the seismic source and the distance from the epicenter, experts said.