(Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)

The Jiangsu Earthquake Administration had established a network of seven seismological observation sites by using offshore wind power platforms by the end of April.

With a coastline of nearly 1,000 kilometers, Jiangsu has recorded 16 earthquakes of magnitude 6 and above in its coastal areas. With the development of the marine economy, the province faces an increasing need to mitigate seismic hazards in the sea area.

One of the main challenges facing marine seismic monitoring is the stable power supply for offshore monitoring station and devices, such as seismographs, and the communication network. Fortunately, the rising number of offshore wind power platforms have provided a new solution.

Wang Hengzhi, a senior engineer at the administration, said cooperation with wind power companies not only ensures electricity supply stability but also overcomes the challenge of real-time signal transmission.

The administration installed seismometers in offshore wind farms, and analysed the data to understand background noise and monitoring capacity. A breakthrough was made on November 14, 2022, when the seismometer clearly recorded a 3.8- magnitude earthquake in waters 105 km away from Yancheng City. This success also proved the feasibility of carrying out seismic monitoring based on offshore wind power platforms.

The principle of earthquake early warning is due to the time difference in transferring information between seismic waves and electromagnetic waves. This time difference allows people to escape from danger and take preventative responses, so the research priority for this new network is how to better utilize marine seismic monitoring data for earthquake warnings.