China Earthquake Administration


The China Earthquake Administration is a public institution managed by the State Council at the deputy ministerial level in charge of national earthquake disaster reduction work. It is currently managed by the Ministry of Emergency Management.
Some English text use the name Chinese Seismic Bureau. In older text, it was also referred to by its former name, National Earthquake Bureau or National Seismic Bureau.
WWW cea.gov.cn

Bureaus

CEA presently has nine subordinate bureaus.
  • General Office
  • Bureau of Development and Finance
  • Bureau of Earthquake Monitoring and Forecasting
  • Bureau of Earthquake Damage Prevention
  • Bureau of Earthquake Emergency Rescue
  • Department of Personnel, Education, Science, and Technology
  • Party Committee
  • Discipline Inspection Team of CCDI in the China Earthquake Administration
  • Office of the Welfare of Retired Personnel

Establishment

As a country stricken by two of the world's ten most fatal earthquakes before the creation of CEA, China's first seismic monitoring stations were set up under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A national Earthquake Affairs Office was created under joint administration of the National Science and Technology Commission and Chinese Academy of Sciences after the 1966 Xingtai earthquakes. A Central Task Force of Earthquakes under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was created the day after a M7.4 earthquake struck Bohai Bay on July 18, 1969.
In 1971, the State Council decided to create the National Earthquake Bureau, predecessor to CEA, to replace the "Central Task Force". The State Council initially delegated administration of the CNEB to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. CNEB became directly administrated by the State Council in 1975.
Following the recommendation from the CNEB, each province, autonomous regions and centrally administrated municipalities in PRC has established its own earthquake bureau since 1977. In 1985, these local bureaus were placed under dual leadership of the local government and the national bureau.
CNEB was renamed CEA in 1998.