Quake warning system to be in place by 2023

China will build a nationwide earthquake early warning system by 2023, said a senior emergency management official.

It has already finished testing an earthquake alert system for high-speed trains, and the system is expected to be extended to the country's entire high-speed rail network, said Zheng Guoguang, vice-minister of emergency management. He made the remarks ahead of the International Day for Disaster Reduction, which falls on Saturday this year.

The early warning system, known as the National Seismic Intensity Rapid Reporting and Early Warning project, was approved by central authorities early last year. It will include more than 15,000 observation stations across the country, at a cost of almost 1.9 billion yuan ($274 million), and 3,360 service terminals in national and provincial government bodies that are related to earthquake relief, as well as in public institutions and vital infrastructure and utilities, such as nuclear power plants.