What It Is-

Later this year China plans to launch its first satellite earthquake monitoring platform. The satellite is made to detect an earthquake of a magnitude of six or higher in China and a seven or higher in other countries. Now in less than a minute’s time, 100 million people can receive an earthquake warning. This technology can also be used and applied to regions affected by tsunamis. Tsunamis are caused earthquakes along faults in the ocean. These earthquakes then cause massive swells and waves that have extremely deadly effects when they make contact on coasts. This technology has the power to save thousands of lives over the next several years. 

How It Works-

The system woks by detecting thermal images to indicate the presence of positive thermal anomalies associated with different fault systems along Earth’s crust. It uses Earth’s electromagnetic field, ionosphere, and high energy particles to relay information in real time to observation stations. Over the course of the last seven years there has been a series of thermal images and activity recorded on Middle Asian that is used as a baseline for the system. When the system detects a temporal change on linear lines of the Earth’s crust the system will notify one of the hundreds of space stations used in concordance with the satellite. There will be more than 1,300 satellite stations that receive data from the satellite.  The electromagnetic satellite has eight components including an inductive magnetometer, a magnetic tester, an electric field detector, and a Global Positioning Sensor Occultation System. The satellite is expected to orbit for five to six years. Scientists plan to collect and use this data for a variety of proposes and future applications.

Other Implementations-

The satellite is not only used to collect data on earthquakes. It also has an aerospace and navigation communication system. This technology can be used to transmit other forms of information used for air traffic control, marine and naval purposes, and defense applications. Scientists also want to use the data collected by the satellite in order to try to detect similarities in anomalies the moments and hours leading up to an earthquake. They hope to then use that data to make an Earthquake forecasting system. This would be the first of its kind and could save millions of lives.