Description
China is a nation plagued by earthquakes: there are typically tens of moderately severe
earthquakes every year. The most severe earthquake to occur in recent years was the
Tangshan earthquake
of 1976, in which 240,000 lives were lost and 160,000 people injured.
This project, started in October 1989, uses the "Q & D" method in which
infra-red data from EO
satellites identifies anomalous increases in temperature that occur before an earthquake.
The temperature may typically increase by 2 to 4 degrees C anywhere between several days
and a month in advance of an earthquake.
The whole of China is now routinely monitored by the "Q & D" method
developed under the project. Data from the project, which was originally scheduled to last
for five and a half years, is disseminated via the State Seismological Bureau in order to
facilitate disaster reduction.
The Q & D earthquake prediction method is helping to reduce the loss of life and the
financial impact of earthquakes in China. The Q & D method offers an inexpensive and
potentially more accurate alternative to other methods of earthquake detection (such as
the GPS method which relies on measurements of the slight deformation of the earth's crust
that occurs before an earthquake) because of the wide coverage and ready availability of
data.
SOURCE: STA/NASDA, 1995. The information was originally supplied by the National Remote Sensing Center of China.