Nation sends quake monitor into orbit

The first Chinese space-based platform for earthquake monitoring was launched at 3:51 pm on Friday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

The satellite is an important platform for studying the electromagnetic environment of Earth and has vital applications in research into the precursors of earthquakes, said Zheng Guoguang, head of the China Earthquake Administration.

The seismo-electromagnetic satellite ZH 1 is named after Zhang Heng (AD 78-139), inventor of the seismoscope, an instrument that records the occurrence of an earthquake. The satellite fills a blank in China's exploration of the global geomagnetic field, the ionospheric environment and its variations, which are closely related to earthquakes, Zheng said.