Surviving a quake in the capital

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Ya'an, Sichuan Province, on April 20 has gripped the whole nation. It should also be a warning sign for those Beijingers who think it's never going to happen here.

"Beijing is located on an earthquake fault zone," points out Yang Xiaoping, a geologist from the Institute of Geology, under the China Earthquake Administration.

One of the biggest, most catastrophic earthquakes in history, the Sanhe-Pinggu Earthquake, happened in the east of Beijing in 1679. It rattled the city with a whopping 8.0 magnitude. There have been six earthquakes stronger than 6.0 in Beijing's recorded history. And according to the website of the China Earthquake Data Center, since 2008, there have been six earthquakes in Beijing and the surrounding areas stronger than 4.0, the magnitude where significant damage begins to happen.

Ready for disaster?

Is Beijing prepared for an earthquake? Officials say yes, but academics say no. Rao Hengjiu expressed his concern over the question of whether Beijing is prepared. "I think it's not optimistic," said Rao, professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the China University of Petroleum.

"Beijing is a super big city, with a highly dense population. But in the residential areas, I have observed, making buildings earthquake-proof is rarely taken into consideration," said Rao. "There are no evacuation zones."

"We have too many gas stations, neighborhood gas pipes and cars, which can easily cause fires," continued Rao. "The whole city can be destroyed."

Zhang Xiaonan, the publicity officer for the Beijing Earthquake Bureau, painted a rosier picture. He told Metropolitan that the government has made efforts to make the city earthquake-proof.

Since 2012, about 1 million square meters of old houses in Beijing have been strengthened, 10,161 bridges and other facilities have been checked for risks and 243,000 houses in rural areas have been rebuilt. The goal is to have all rural houses built to handle a 6.0 quake by 2020. In addition, 25 professional rescue teams with 1,400 members and a volunteer team of 16,000 members are ready to go, said Zhang.

In the past three years, a project to strengthen all schoolhouses in Beijing has been"basically" completed, covering about 7 million square meters, reinforcing the "seismic fortification intensity" of the buildings.

Residents are asked to hold earthquake drills. "In 2012 alone, 400 emergency drills of all sizes and sorts were carried out, with 130,000 citizens participating," said Zhang. Zhang added that schools, hospitals, malls and other highly populated units are advised to conduct a drill at least once a year. However, there are no mandatory regulations currently in place.

As of the end of 2012, Beijing designated 81 up-to-standard emergency gathering areas, with a total space of 15.2 million square meters for 2.7 million people, said Zhang. All are outdoors. "In the future, we'll start building indoor emergency shelters to deal with difficult weather conditions when emergencies happen in winter," said Zhang.

These areas could only fit approximately 13 percent of the total population of 20.7 million in Beijing. "Building shelters is a slow process, considering the financial and management capacities," said Zhang.

 "The government has made some efforts, but I am worried about their e­ffectiveness," said Rao. Judging from the reaction to the earthquake in Ya'an, Rao thinks the reaction from the national emergency command is still ineffective.

Rao called on the government to establish and enforce a legal limit on housing density in cities ­- and soon. He also pointed out that perfecting city planning, improving building quality and setting up the necessary refugee facilities are of great urgency. And citywide earthquake drills should be legally mandatory. "After all, providing rescue services is not as good as taking precautions," he noted.

How to survive, step by step

Earthquake prediction is a global problem, eluding every country in the world, said Yang.

A real-time earthquake warning system, on the other hand, is available. "The P Wave (Primary Wave), which can be detected by machines, travels faster than the destructive S Wave (Secondary Wave), and this gives people about 10 seconds to react before it gets worse," said Yang.

Since September 2012, a trial earthquake early warning system has been working in Fujian Province, and the warning system is gradually being put into place in the greater Beijing area. "The warning system is expected to be completed in five years in Beijing," said Zhang.