11 years after the tragedy of Wenchuan, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan Province again last night. This time however, tragedy has found a hero, in the form of one man who, after Wenchuan, dedicated himself to developing China’s earthquake early warning system that last night saved hundreds of lives.
汶川悲剧发生11年后，昨晚四川省再次发生6.0级地震。 然而，這一次，悲劇找到了一位英雄，他以一個人的形式，在汶川之後，致力於開發昨晚拯救了數百條生命的中國地震預警系統。
At 22:55 on 17 June, 2019, the Continental Earthquake Early Warning Network warned Changning County of Yibin City 10 seconds in advance of the quake hitting the area. Many other places in Sichuan were also issued early warnings through audible alarms, television and text messages. Among them, the Sichuan capital of Chengdu received early warning 61 seconds in advance, meaning that over 180 schools and 110 communities were alerted in time for people to find refuge.
2019年6月17日22:55，大陆地震预警网提前10秒向宜宾市长宁县发出警告。 四川的许多其他地方也通过有声警报、电视和短信发出了预警。 其中，四川省会成都提前61秒收到预警，这意味着180多所学校和110个社区及时接到警报，让人们寻求庇护。
Apart from Chengdu, other citizens in Leshan, Ya’an and Deyang also received the earthquake warning via their TV sets and text messages. The content of such included a count down, saying, “A 6.0 magnitude earthquake will take place in Changning; the tremor shall occur in approximately 10 seconds”.
除了成都，乐山、雅安和德阳的其他市民也通过电视机和短信收到了地震警报。 其内容包括倒计时，说：“常宁将发生6.0级地震；震动将在大约10秒内发生”。
Unsurprisingly, local netizens found the alarming system “really useful”; in just a few seconds, many people were saved. Some residents in Changning reported that once they received the warning online, they ran out of the building and stayed in the clear, waiting for rescue. Xinhua News reports showed that professional rescue forces reached the spot in about half an hour.
毫不奇怪，当地网民发现这个令人震惊的系统“非常有用”；在短短几秒钟内，许多人得救了。 常寧的一些居民報告說，一旦收到網上的警告，他們就跑出了大樓，呆在清中，等待救援。 新华社报道显示，专业救援部队在大约半小时内到达了现场。
That so many people were saved from injury or even fatality is all down to the creator of this system, Wang Hao, Director of both the Sichuan Key Laboratory of Earthquake Early Warning and the Chengdu Institute of High-tech Disaster Reduction. Shocked by scenes of the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, he generated the idea of returning home to focus on early warning system research. “Even with just 10 seconds of warning, people have more chances to escape and reduce casualties”, he commented.
这么多人从受伤甚至死亡中获救，这完全归因于该系统的创造者，即四川地震预警重点实验室和成都高新技术减灾研究所所长王浩。 被2008年汶川地震的场景震惊，他产生了回家专注于预警系统研究的想法。 他评论道：“即使只有10秒的警告，人们也有更多的机会逃跑并减少伤亡。”
Wang was speaking with China Youth Net and went on to say, “As a Sichuan local, we should do something for our hometown”. From that moment in 2008, he began to search for information related to earthquake early warning technology, only to find that such only was present in Japan and a few other countries. He set about doing research with his team in Chengdu right after the Wenchuan quake.
王在与中国青年网交谈时继续说：“作为四川本地人，我们应该为我们的家乡做点什么。” 从2008年的那一刻起，他开始搜索与地震预警技术有关的信息，却发现这种信息只存在于日本和其他几个国家。 汶川地震发生后，他开始和他的团队在成都进行研究。
Wang Hao explained, “If the alarm arrives 3 seconds in advance of the quake, the number of casualties can be reduced by 14 percent; 10 seconds in advance, 39 percent; if the Wenchuan earthquake were to occur again with the early warning system, the number of deaths might be reduced by 20,000, to 30,000”.
王浩解釋說：「如果警報在地震前3秒到達，傷亡人數可以減少14%；提前10秒，死亡人數減少39%；如果汶川地震在預警系統再次發生，死亡人數可能會減少2萬人，降至3萬人。」
At present, 79 counties in Sichuan Province’s most quake-prone areas have already set up TV and mobile phone early warning services, accounting for 60 percent of Sichuan’s total earthquake are. While some small towns are not yet covered by the system, Sichuan remains the first and only province in China to now benefit from earthquake warning, benefits which last night were all too plain to see.
目前，四川省地震最易发地区的79个县已经设置了电视和手机预警服务，占四川地震总量的60%。 虽然一些小城镇尚未被该系统覆盖，但四川仍然是中国第一个也是唯一受益于地震警告的省份，昨晚的好处太明显了。
