How Beijing and Taipei are teaming up in space to track earthquakes

Beijing and Taipei will join hands in space to monitor the electromagnetic signals that can precede earthquakes following a landmark intergovernmental agreement last month.

The agreement, reached by the governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, will see the mainland give Taiwan partial access to data collected by an electromagnetic surveillance satellite it will launch next year. In exchange, Taiwan will share some of its data with the mainland.

An electromagnetic surveillance satellite is a reconnaissance satellite equipped with advanced sensors that can intercept extremely weak radio signals. The data it collects can be used for civilian purposes, for example the study of electronic disturbances in the upper atmosphere caused by earthquakes and volcanic activity, but can also have military applications, such as identifying the location of radar stations, missile launch facilities and other hidden defence assets.

Some earthquakes emit electromagnetic waves before they occur and scientists hope to collect and study those signals to further the development of earthquake forecasting.

The intergovernmental project, to be funded equally by Beijing and Taipei, was launched last month at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth in Beijing, a statement posted on the institute’s website said.

Professor Jann-yenq Liu, the Taiwanese side’s lead project scientist, said its focus on studying earthquakes would bring numerous benefits to Taiwan.