Chinese county installs disaster warning network

ZHUGQU, Gansu - A network made up of sophisticated disaster warning equipment has been established in a mountainous county in Northwest China, two years after a rain-triggered mudslide claimed 1,765 lives there.

The network, built with government investment of 32 million yuan ($5 million), is among the best of its kind in the country, said Shi Huaxiong, head of Zhugqu County in Gansu Province.

Zhugqu is situated among steep mountains, valleys and waterways and has been subject to a host of geological disasters, including earthquakes and mudslides.

Shi said most of the money was spent to purchase advanced equipment, including weather radar and devices to capture and analyze soundwaves, as well as equipment that can measure the intensity of mudslide shockwaves.

Twenty-three LED screens have been erected in 19 towns and villages to warn local residents of impending danger, officials said.

Shi said 5 million yuan will be used to boost wages for disaster monitoring personnel in 72 of the region's disaster-prone areas.

Manual monitoring was previously the only form of disaster monitoring in the county. It has been found to be ineffective, partially because of the low wages the monitors receive.

The government allocated 5 billion yuan to reconstruct Zhugqu following a devastating mudslide that killed 1,765 people in the middle of the night on August 8, 2010.

A quarter of the money has been earmarked to fund disaster prevention and control efforts, including the construction of a 30-meter-wide flood channel and 15 mudslide barriers.