China plans better earthquake warnings

China is to improve its seismic early warning system, the China Earthquake Networks Center announced Thursday.

A new project will enable early warnings within seconds in key areas, and the magnitude of any earthquake to be reported within minutes all over the country, according Pan Huaiwen, head of the center.

The early warning project has entered the final stage of approval and is expected to target the four most seismically active parts of the country.

Compared with other countries, China's monitoring of quakes is "not bad," Pan said. Preliminary monitoring results are automatically released about one minute after the quake occurs, but forecasting short-term or imminent quakes is a global challenge.

The accuracy of quake forecasts on a yearly basis stays at about 30 percent, the official said. "As the accuracy is not high, forecasts only serve as government references for disaster prevention and mitigation." Endi