China completes system to monitor Earth's crust

03 Mar Xinhua

China on Friday completed a system designed to monitor the movement of the Earth's crust and predict earthquakes, according to sources with the China Earthquake Administration.

Based on satellite navigation, it involves a network of 260 constant observing stations and 2,000 part-time observing stations with data-processing technology, and will also be used for weather forecasting and scientific research, among other purposes.

The 35 experts in charge of the project agreed that the outcome is a comprehensive, precise and versatile geoscientific resource, and that its information should be shared.

The new network joins the U.S.'s Plate Boundary Observation system and Japan's GEONE as the most advanced means of observing the movement of the Earth's crust.

China started the project in December of 2007, with a total investment of 524 million yuan (83.2 million U.S. dollars), and it was jointly carried out by official bodies including the China Earthquake Administration, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation.