China allays public worry over surge in large quakes

A top Chinese official has appealed to peoplenot to interpret the recent seismic activity seen in the world as posing a greater risk for quake-prone China.
Pan Huaiwen, director of the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) told the media here thatthere have been 37 instances in the world where a series of earthquakes above 7.0 magnitude struck in such close succession since 1900.
Of those, only three were followed by a major quake in China, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
Therefore, Pan said, this round of major quakes, statistically, has no correlation with China being subjected to greater risk.

Since 2004, earthquakes above 8.0 magnitude have been more frequent when compared to the relatively "calm period" since the 1960s.
This active period will last for a while, Jiang Haikun, a CENC forecaster said.

Pan suggested that China should invest greater efforts in building strong houses to withstand potential quakes.
"Quakes do not kill people, poor buildings do," he said.
China is subject to frequent earthquakes with heavy casualty and economic losses, Pan said, adding the nation should stay prepared for earthquakes in terms of seismic surveillance and disaster reduction, the most effective being strengthening buildings.
Pan recalled the 1976 earthquake in Tangshan, a 7.8-magnitude one, that killed 242,000 people, saying shabby construction due to poor economic conditions back then and low disaster-reduction awareness were to blame.

Now, as China makes great headway in economic development and catches up in disaster prevention and reduction, Pan said the country should put greater resources in strengthening buildings and other preparatory measures.
The last few days since April 10 saw a 7.5-magnitude earthquake in Ecuador, a 7.3-magnitude one in Japan, a 7.2-magnitude one in Myanmar, and a 7.1-magnitude one in Afghanistan.