Abstract
For the silver jubilee of the Asian Seismological Commission (ASC) in which China participated actively, this article briefly reviews the history of modern seismology in China since 1921. Seen in a century perspective, it is shown that earthquake prediction as an important scientific agenda in the seismological science in China follows the ‘technical hyper cycle’, albeit with a longer time scale, and now is the stage of ‘plateau of productivity’.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chen, Y. and Booth, D.C. (2011) The Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008: Anatomy of a Disaster. Beijing: Science Press in cooperation with Springer.
Chen, Y.-T., Wu, Z.L. and Xie, L.L. (2003) Centennial national and institutional reports: seismology and physics of the Earth’s interior — China (Beijing). In: Lee, W. H. K., H. Kanamori, P. C. Jennings and C. Kisslinger (Eds.), International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, Part B. Amsterdam: Academic Press, pp.1317–1321.
Chen, Z.L. (2007) Earthquake Prediction: Practice and Reflection. Beijing: Seismological Press (in Chinese).
Chen, J.M. (2008) Earthquake disaster reduction in developing China. Keynote Lecture, 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE), October 12–17, 2008, Beijing, China, Proceedings CD.
Chinese Geophysical Society (Eds.), (2017) The History of Geophysics in China. Beijing: China Science and Technology Press (in Chinese).
Chinese National Committee for IASPEI (Eds.), (1987) National Report on Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (1983–1986). Beijing: Seismological Press.
Chinese National Committee for IASPEI (Eds.), (1991) National Report on Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (1987–1990). Beijing: Seismological Press.
Chinese National Committee for IASPEI (Eds.), (1995) National Report on Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (1991–1994). Beijing: Meteorological Press.
Chinese National Committee for IASPEI (Eds.) (1999) National Report on Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (1995–1998). Beijing: Meteorological Press.
Chinese National Committee for IASPEI (Eds.), (2003) National Report on Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (1999–2003). Acta Seismologica Sinica (English Edition), v.16, pp.479–591.
Editorial Committee of China Today (Eds.), (1993) China Today: Earthquake Hazard Reduction Undertaking. Beijing: China Today Publishing Co. (in Chinese).
Editorial Committee of China Earthquake Yearbook (Eds.), (1990) China Earthquake Yearbook (1949–1981). Beijing: Seismological Press (in Chinese).
Fu, C.Y. (1946a) Studies on seismic waves (I), reflection and refraction of plane waves. Geophysics, v.11, pp.1–9.
Fu, C.Y. (1946b) Studies on seismic waves (II), Rayleigh waves in a superficial layer. Geophysics, v.11, pp.10–23.
Fu, C.Y. (1947) Studies on seismic waves (III), Propagation of elastic waves in the neighborhood of a free boundary. Geophysics, v.12, pp.57–71.
Lee, S.P. (1948) Reflections on the last twenty-five years of geophysical work in China. Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer., v.38, pp.81–87.
Ma, Z.J., Fu, Z.X., Zhang, Y.Z., Wang, C.M., Zhang, G.M. and Liu, D.F. (1985) Earthquake Prediction — Nine Major Earthquakes in China (1966–1976). Beijing: Seismological Press (in Chinese). English Edition (1990), Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
State Seismological Bureau (Eds.), (1996) Achievements of Seismic Hazard Prevention and Reduction in China — Dedicated to the 30th International Geological Congress. Beijing: Seismological Press.
Sun, Q.Z. and Wu, S.G. (2007) Development of the Earthquake Monitoring and Prediction in China during 1966–2006. Beijing: Seismological Press (in Chinese).
Wang, Q., Zhang, P.Z. Freymueller, J.T., Bilham, R., Larson, K.M., Lai, X.A., You, X.Z., Niu, Z.J., Wu, J.C., Li, Y.X., Liu, J.N., Yang, Z.Q. and Chen, Q.Z. (2001) Present day crustal deformation in China constrained by Global Positioning System measurements. Science, v.294, pp.574–577.
Wen, L.X., Chen, Y. and Yu, S. (Eds.) (2011) Seismological Grand Challenges for the Reduction of Earthquake Disasters in China. Beijing: Science Press (in Chinese).
Wu, Z.L., Ma, T.F., Jiang, H. and Jiang, C.S. (2013) Multi-scale seismic hazard and risk in the China mainland with implication for the preparedness, mitigation, and management of earthquake disasters: An overview. Review Article. Internat. Jour. Disaster Risk Reduction, v.4, pp.21–33.
Wyss, M. and Wu, Z.L. (2014) How many lives were saved by the evacuation before the M7.3 Haicheng earthquake of 1975? Seismol. Res. Lett., v.85, pp.126–129.
Xu, Z.Q., Wu, Z.L., Li, H.B. and Li, L. (2018) The most rapid respond to a large earthquake- the Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling Project. Chinese Jour. Geophys., v.61, pp.1666–1679 (in Chinese).
Zhang, P.Z., Deng, Q.D., Zhang, G.M., Ma, J., Gan, W.J., Min, W., Mao, F.Y. and Wang, Q. (2003) Active tectonic blocks and strong earthquakes in the continent of China. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, v.46(S2), pp.13–24
Zhu, C.Z. and Wu, Z.L. (2007) Annual consultation on the likelihood of earthquakes: Chinese approach to the study and practice of earthquake prediction. In: Secretariat of the Organizing Committee, the Third International Conference on Continental Earthquakes — Mechanism, Prediction, Emergency Management & Insurance (Eds.), Collected Papers of the Third International Conference on Continental Earthquakes, Beijing: Seismological Press, pp.486–494.
Zhu, C.Z., Wu, Z.L. and Li, L. (2021) Making of the Asian Seismological Commission (ASC): A Chinese perspective. Jour. Geol. Soc. India (this issue).
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Prof. Harsh K. Gupta, President, Geological Society of India, for invitation and to the Commission for International Cooperation of the Seismological Society of China (SSC), the Chinese National Committee for the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI), and the Department for International Cooperation of China Earthquake Administration (CEA) for helps in preparing this manuscript. Prof. Zhangli Chen, former administrator of CEA (1996∼2001), gave good advices to this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, Z., Zhu, C. & Li, L. Modern Seismology in China: Centennial Retrospect. J Geol Soc India 97, 1498–1503 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1904-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1904-y