BEIJING, Feb. 11 -- Shanghai plans to expand its tsunami forecasting equipment to cover a radius of 600 kilometers from its coastlines, up from 200 kilometers at present, an official said yesterday.

    The upgrade should allow the Shanghai Oceanography Bureau to forecast tsunamis 48 hours in advance compared to 24 hours at present. The bureau hopes to have the expanded network in place within five years.

    As tsunamis can move very quickly - the one that ravaged parts of Asia in 2004 hit the beaches of Thailand, Sri Lanka and India less than two hours after it was created by an earthquake in northwest Sumatra off Indonesia - the system would have to predict earthquakes before they happen.

    "However slim, there is always the possibility of a tsunami in coastal cities like Shanghai," Fang Jianmeng, deputy director of the bureau, told an oceanographic seminar yesterday.

    He said Shanghai is in a strategic location for the country's oceanic development, but he didn't say how much money the government will spend to set up the system.

    Fang said the bureau is planning to set up eight new buoys - each of them with a diameter of 10 meters - on the East China Sea so that its off-shore forecast coverage will be tripled to a radius of 600 kilometers.

    The bureau is also planning to install new "underground radars" which can detect underground vibration in the city's surroundings.

    "We plan to establish a multi-level oceanic disaster forecast including orbiters, airborne sensors and ground facilities," Fang said. He said neighboring cities don't have similar plans.

    To meet that goal, the city will set up a new headquarters to receive and analyze data related to oceanic disasters including red tides, floods, and earthquakes.

    Fang said once a tsunami warning is sent out, the city government will take emergency measures including relocation of residents and enhancement of infrastructure maintenance. Enditem

(Source: Shanghai Daily) ¡¡