China building world's largest earthquake warning system

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Earthquake can be destructive. Unfortunately, we don't have a reliable way to predict.

But technologies can still help us under such a desperate situation. For example, sending a message after the earthquake happens, yet before it travels from underground where we live.

China is building the world's largest earthquake alert system and it's possibly the most advanced.

Engineers are setting up more than 15,000 sensors all over the country and wiring them into a web.

When an earthquake happens, the sensors can send electrical pulses to the control center and then ordinary people's smartphones.

The signal travels at (almost) light speed and is much faster than the devastating earthquake shaking, giving local people a little bit time to prepare.

According to an internal document CGTN got from the project managers, the system can send messages to people less than two seconds after the earthquake happens.

So the time between the warning and the actual impact might only be seconds or a minute. But it's proved to be life-saving because every second matter in this situation.

Similar systems can be found in other earthquake-prone places including Japan and U.S. west coast.

But China's system can be more advanced in many ways.

"It will be the largest earthquake observation network in the world," said Li Shanyou, deputy chief engineer of the system.

"It's more integrated than the Japanese and the U.S. ones," he added.

The system can not only detect the movement of the continents but also calculate the possible impact of an earthquake.

So it will automatically warn local people, making it much faster than human observation.

"It can make experts from other countries envy," Li told CGTN.

The system, overseen by China's Ministry of Emergency Management, is set to be completed in 2022.