China establishes the biggest earthquake early warning system in the world.

Through the National Earthquake Intensity Rapid Reporting and Early Warning Project, China has established the largest earthquake early warning system in the world.

Covering earthquake-prone areas, this system consists of approximately 15,899 monitoring stations dispersed around the nation. In order to give the public ample time to take preventative action before the more catastrophic waves arrive, it can provide alerts within seconds of detecting an earthquake.

After passing acceptance and construction testing, the project, which commenced in 2018, is now fully operational. An important advancement over earlier techniques that took minutes to notify earthquake occurrences is the system’s ability to deliver alerts in an average of seven seconds in critical locations and between 10 and 30 seconds in other regions. The network is capable of picking up earthquakes as tiny as 2.0 in the east and even smaller ones in places with high population densities, such as Beijing and the Yangtze River Delta.

In addition to saving lives by sending out timely notifications, this cutting-edge early warning system connects with vital infrastructure—like electrical grids, railroads, and nuclear power plants—to enable emergency interventions. China is now among the few nations with widespread earthquake early warning capabilities, which is a noteworthy technological accomplishment.