Shanghai is planning to establish a professional earthquake rescue team next year, improving its overall competence in dealing with natural disasters, officials of Shanghai Seismological Bureau said yesterday.

Although Shanghai is not located within an area where earthquakes frequently happen, the bureau said the team can be sent to rescue people from collapsed buildings as well as other disasters and accidents.

"Establishing a professional earthquake rescue team is necessary for metropolises like Shanghai," Zhu Yuanqing, the bureau's vice director, said yesterday.

Although it is unclear how many members the new squad will recruit, the bureau has adopted a plan to divide the team into four specific task forces.

They include experts whose job is to make rescue strategies, an actual group of rescuers, a medical team and a communication team sustaining contact between the rescuers and the command center.

According to officials, Shanghai is on an alluvial plain - mainly made up of mud and silt. It is highly unlikely that the city will be hit by a tremor. But since there is still a slim possibility, the city needs to enhance its anti-disaster ability.

Scientists are also suggesting the city build special "anti-disaster" parks in case of emergencies.

(Shanghai Daily December 22, 2004)