On July 21, 1654, a magnitude-8 quake jolted Gansu, with Tianshui as the epicenter. Aftershocks followed for more than 100 days.

"Twenty-five quakes with magnitude-5 and above have occurred in areas 200 km from Minxian and Zhangxian since 193 BC," Chen said. "China has a high incidence of earthquakes. Since 1900, earthquakes have killed 550,000 people, accounting for 53 percent of the deaths from earthquakes worldwide."

"In the Tangshan earthquake in 1975 alone, 240,000 people died," he said.

Chen said earthquakes take place in five major areas in China: Taiwan and its adjacent waters, Southwest China, Northwest China, North China and eastern coastal areas.

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.

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