China Environmental News Digest: China to build earthquake warning system at Three Gorges Reservoir area

CHONGQING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- A network of 21 digital earthquake monitoring stations is to be set up in the Chongqing section of the Three Gorges Reservoir area by the end of next year, a local earthquake official said on Tuesday.

Costing 29.6 million yuan (3.7 million U.S. dollars), the stations would monitor seismological activity around the clock and provide an earthquake warning system for the local government, said Zhang Rong, head of the Earthquake Prevention Office of the Chongqing Municipal Seismological Bureau.

Construction of the Three Gorges Project, the world's biggest hydro-electric project, began on the Yangtze River in 1993 and is expected to be completed in 2008, a year ahead of schedule. The huge reservoir began to fill in June 2003, with more than 220 counties inundated in Chongqing and Hubei Province on the river's upper and middle reaches.

Geological disasters like landslides and mud-rock flows were common before the construction of the Three Gorges Project, sparking fears of possible calamities after water storage began.

The government has invested more than 4 billion yuan (482 million U.S. dollars) in the prevention and control of geological disasters in the Three Gorges area.

The stations would provide technical support for security of the Three Gorges Reservoir and prevent damage caused by earthquakes and other disasters, Zhang said.

A geographical disaster database for the reservoir area had been established and advanced technologies like satellite remote sensing were being used to monitor the geological situation.

The project, including the 2,309-meter-long, 185-meter-high dam with 26 generators, is expected to produce 84.7 billion kWh of electricity annually on completion. It is also expected to control flooding on the Yangtze, fuel industrial growth and improve shipping.