Chinanews, Beijing, October 11 – “China is often under the attack of sudden and fatal earthquakes,” said Liu Yuchen, deputy director of the National Seismological Bureau.Located between the Pacific and Indian plates, it is likely for strong and complicated crustal movement to take place in China.Since last century, there have occurred 8 strong earthquakes of at least magnitude-8 on Richter scale in China, 66 between magnitude-7 and magnitude-7.9, and 400 between magnitude-6 and magnitude-6.9, taking up 1/3 of the world’s total destructive earthquakes. Meanwhile, 600,000 of the 1.5 million people killed by earthquakes worldwide in the 20th century were in China. 4 of the 6 most fatal earthquakes (killing at least 200,000 people each) in history occurred in the country, including the two most fatal ones in the 20th century (the Haiyuan Earthquake in 1920 and the Tangshan Earthquake in 1976).All the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China have been hit by earthquakes above magnitude-5 on Richter scale. 29 of them have witnessed earthquakes above magnitude-6 and 20 have witnessed earthquakes above magnitude-7.Currently, 40% of China’s territory is under the threat of possible fatal earthquakes, where 70% of its major cities are located.