Villager Zhao Guangdong hangs up a string of small firecrackers to celebrate his family's move to a new house in Mianyang, Sichuan, yesterday. Mianyang was badly hit by the May 12 earthquake.

The standards by which densely populated buildings like schools and hospitals are able to withstand earthquakes would be raised if a proposed document is passed into law.

The revised draft of the Earthquake Precaution and Disaster Relief Law also urges local earthquake-monitoring authorities to improve their procedures on a daily basis.

The proposals are partly due to the experiences of rescue and relief teams following the May 12 Sichuan earthquake.

The draft was yesterday submitted to the fifth session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress for its first review since the massive earthquake.

The draft, whose content has doubled since its last version in 1997 and now contains more than 40 new items, offers clear guidelines on how earthquake authorities should prepare for, and react to, massive natural disasters.

"The May 12 Wenchuan earthquake has revealed new problems in earthquake precaution and relief," Chen Jianmin, head of the China Earthquake Administration, told 150 committee members yesterday.

"Earthquake monitoring and forecasting need to be improved. Cities still lack the ability to cope with earthquakes. Infrastructure in the countryside is vulnerable and the risk of a big-impact aftershock is serious.

"The public lacks awareness of earthquake precautions. Authorities need to upgrade their emergency systems," he said.

As with the previous revision in 1997, the new draft forbids any individual or institution from publishing independent forecasts of earthquakes, both local and overseas, without reporting to the national earthquake monitoring authority.

The new draft, however, encourages the authorities to swiftly review forecasts by individuals or institutions and report their results to the government. It also says that countryside areas need to strengthen safety procedures.

It is the first time that a law would require State and provincial governments to team up with an emergency earthquake relief team equipped with the best tools and facilities. The earthquake administrator of the State Council would also be responsible for coping with international aid along with related departments.

The draft lists the guidelines for temporarily relocating quake survivors. For the first time, affected families would also have a legal right to receive assistance for psychological distress where needed.

The revision of the Earthquake Precaution and Disaster Relief Law was deferred in June. Legislators insisted more experience be drawn from the rescue and relief work after the May 12 earthquake.

They suggested that a role be reserved in disaster relief for the army and paramilitary forces; that national mourning days be set aside; and that improvements be made in the procedures for handling emergencies.

(China Daily October 24, 2008)