Bureaus Exclusive

E China province gets tougher on disaster prevention

By Hu Meidong and Yang Jie (China Daily Fujian Bureau)
Updated: 2011-05-18 14:00

FUZHOU - More than 30 earthquake monitoring stations will be built by the end of this year, which will help to reduce the speed of earthquake forecasting from 10 minutes to no more than one minute.

"Fuzhou, as a coastal city, is a frequent victim not only to typhoons but also rainstorms and flood disasters. It is vital to take tough measures on disaster prevention. The move will benefit the development of Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone and guarantee local residents' lives and properties as well." said Yang Zhiying, the director of Fujian Provincial Water Resources Bureau.

According to the statistics, there are about 96 networks for earthquake detection, they cover all over the Fujian province. Among them, about 11 networks adopt GPS system. Over 30 stations will be built by the end of this year, while 20 more of them will show up during the 12th Five-Year plan.

Except earthquake monitoring system, Fujian takes the lead to build flood alert systems across the province, realizing real-time flood monitoring and timely sharing the information with cities and counties in Fujian.

Disaster prevention and mitigation mechanism has deeply reached the towns and villages in Fujian by emergency video conferencing systems. About 15,063 coordinators and 15331 organizational villages formed a vast network to enhance their abilities to prevent disasters.

Fujian has established 2,400 shelters for future disaster-affected people through the integration of vacant buildings and nursing home for the aged. About 20,000 more will be built at the end of this year and 300 of them are for earthquake.

With all the effective measures, Fujian government will greatly minimize the casualties by disasters in the future.