Reacting to the recent tsunami tragedy, several governmental
departments have submitted a joint plan to the State Council to upgrade the
nation's oceanic disaster early warning system for final examination and
approval.
An effort of the State Oceanic Administration, Chinese State Seismological
Bureau and China Meteorological Administration, the plan was developed on the
basis of the country's existing natural disaster early warning system.
Li Xiaoming, a senior official at the State Oceanic Administration, said the
revamped plan should be able to avert another tragedy on the scale of the
tsunami disaster.
"We will upgrade the system by improving communication networks and the
establishment of a co-ordinating system," he said.
Li said what is missing is public awareness and national disaster planning
essential to alert large populations quickly.
He said it is key to educate people on how to help themselves and to rapidly
evacuate from dangerous areas.
He said the tsunami catastrophe in the Indian Ocean has also prompted the
country to step up its oceanic research.
"The construction of an early warning system is the focus of the current
work," he said.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China plans to increase its
economic input into marine disaster prevention research, State Oceanic
Administration officials said.
Additional efforts will be made particularly in the fields of monitoring,
warning technology and information distribution, said Yu Fujiang from the
National Marine Environment Forecast Centre at the administration.
The computerized system can detect signals within two to three minutes
following tsunamis occurring, he said.
"But it still has large room for improvement in transmitting the information
to would-be, disaster-hit areas," Yu said.
Currently, Yu's centre can only deliver messages to the provincial oceanic
administrations, which, in turn, undertake disaster-prevention moves.
The country's oceanic research is weaker than its efforts on the land or the
atmosphere studies, said Wang Pinxian, a member of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences.
A lot of earthquakes on land are actually caused by sea bed quakes, and can
cause heavy damage, said Wang, who conducts maritime geological studies at the
Shanghai-based Tongji University.
Some earthquakes taking place in the deep oceans might be felt only through
their tsunami aftermath, said the academician.
According to Wang, China has allocated 5 billion yuan (US$600 million) for
ocean research during the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05).
In 1983, China joined the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii of the
United States, an international organization involving 26 member countries and
aiming at providing warnings for teletsunamis to most countries along the
Pacific areas.
