导读:近日，中国地震局局长表示，截至2020年，地震监测网将覆盖中国大陆地区，真正实现地震预防和控制。
An earthquake early response and warning system, consisting of about 15,000 observation stations, will cover the mainland by 2020, to facilitate disaster identification and the protection of people’s lives, vital infrastructure and utilities.
2020年，由大约15000个观察站组成的地震响应和早期预警系统将覆盖大陆，以促进灾害识别和对人民生命，重要基础设施和公用事业的保护。
Such stations will be spaced 13 kilometers apart in key monitoring areas that span 200 square kilometers in North China, along the southeastern coast, in northwestern Xinjiang and along the so-called North-South Seismic Belt that encircles most of Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces, said Zheng Guoguang, new administrator of the China Earthquake Administration.
中国地震局新任局长郑国光说，这些观察站将在重点监测区域内每隔13公里安置一个，监测区域幅员200公里，包括中国北部，东南沿海，新疆西北部和所谓的南北地震带沿线的四川，甘肃和云南的大部分区域。
The stations will be built on average 47 km apart in other areas, Zheng said in an exclusive interview.
郑在接受专访时说，其他区域，平均每相隔47公里设立一个监测站。
The National Seismic Intensity Rapid Reporting and Early Warning project is the largest of its kind in the world, he said.
他说，国家地震烈度速报与预警工程是世界同类工程中最大的。
"We are expected to be able to alert people within seconds following a destructive earthquake measuring 5 or above on the Richter scale, and to release within minutes its intensity distribution," said Zheng, who previously was administrator of the China Meteorological Administration.
郑国光先前是中国气象局的局长，他说：“我们预计能够在几秒钟内警告人们里氏5级以上的破坏性地震，并在几分钟内发布其强度分布。”
It is much more challenging to try to forecast earthquakes, he said. At least 33 percent of the world’s continental earthquakes have occurred in China.
他说，尝试预测地震更具挑战性。至少33%的大陆地震发生在中国。
Completion of the mammoth project, with startup investment of 2 billion yuan ($290 million), will make it easy to rapidly pinpoint earthquake-afflicted areas, assess disaster situations and implement contingency plans, he said.
他说，（该工程）启动投资为20亿元人民币（2.9亿美元），这项庞大工程的完成，将可以轻松快速地查明受灾地区，评估灾害情况和实施应急计划。
Zheng said the country’s earthquake preparedness and disaster relief efforts should serve public security and national strategies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and building of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, all of which include development of city clusters.
郑说，国家地震防灾救灾工作应当服务于“一带一路”倡议，京津冀协调发展和长江经济带建设等公共安全和国家战略，包括发展城市群。
This year, to help with the Belt and Road Initiative — an infrastructure and trade network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes — Zheng’s agency will help Nepal and Laos build seismic stations and begin construction of the China-ASEAN Earthquake and Tsunami Monitoring and Early Warning System.
今年，为了帮助“一带一路”倡议（沿着古代贸易路线连接亚欧非的基础设施和贸易网络），地震局将帮助尼泊尔和老挝修建地震局，开始建设中国 - 东盟地震和海啸监测预警系统。
Meanwhile, Zheng, citing the Earthquake Prevention and Disaster Mitigation Plan (2016-20), also disclosed that in the next five years, earthquakes measuring magnitude-7 or above on the Richter scale are likely to continue in the country’s vast western regions, while quakes measuring magnitude-6 or above are likely to strike the country’s eastern parts.
与此同时，援引《防震减灾计划》（2016-2020），郑还披露，未来五年，中国广大西部地区可能继续发生里氏7级或以上的地震，6级或以上的地震可能袭击中国东部地区。
The policy document, part of the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan, was released by the China Earthquake Administration and the National Development and Reform Commission in November.
11月，中国地震局和国家发改委发布了这份政策性文件，它是国家第十三个五年计划的一部分。
It warns that some city clusters are located near where strong earthquakes are likely to occur, and seismic risks exist in some key areas where the national strategies are being carried out.
文件警告，一些城市群位于可能发生强地震的区域附近，一些执行国家战略的关键区域存在地震风险。
"It could be extremely hazardous if earthquakes hit areas with supporting infrastructure and projects, such as nuclear and gigantic petrochemical projects and high-rise dams," the policy document says.
政策文件说：“如果地震袭击拥有支持性基础设施和工程的地区，危害相当之大，比如核和大型石化项目以及高层大坝。”
Zheng said that during the planning phase, for city clusters in the risk areas, anti-seismic design has been "fully factored in" and anti-seismic design standards have been set for the construction of nuclear, power and other major projects.
郑说，规划阶段的抗震设计已经“充分考虑”了风险地区的城市群，已经为核，电等重大工程建设设定了抗震设计标准。
After a decade of preparation, a new national seismic hazard map went into use in June as part of setting mandatory national standards for safer structures, according to Zheng.
据郑说，经过十年的准备，今年6月已经开始使用新的国家地震危害地图，作为为更安全的建筑结构设定强制性国家标准的一部分。
