Frequent strong earthquakes occur in Tibet,
providing China with facilities for earthquake prediction,
countermeasures, and the study of continental structural
movements and their causes. The region's seismologists have
done much in seismological observation, surveillance,
prediction and investigation. At the same time, they have
conducted research on the features of seismotectonic belts,
and clearly identified Tibet's seismically active areas to
assist in earthquake prediction. This not only helps future
surveillance and prediction, as well as the study of
geophysics and seismology, but also offers vital seismic
evidence for the region's economic construction.
In 1985, the Lhasa Geomagnetic Observatory won
a silver medal of International Geophysical Observation
Centenary. As the country's seismic undertaking developed,
the world's most advanced digital seismoscope was installed
at the Lhasa Seismic Station in 1992. Since Tibet Seismology
was set up 20 years ago, about 480 issues of the earthquake
monitoring lists and reports have been printed, and some
books and investigative reports published. The book entitled
Earthquakes at Zayu and Damxung of Tibet, for example, won a
third-class award for science and technology progress at the
state level, and A Collection of Historical Materials About
Earthquakes in Tibet won second-class award for science and
technology progress at the regional level.
Weather reports are the most visible result of
meteorological work. Meteorological workers in Tibet provide
both meteorological information for the country and service
for local economic construction. Due to frequent natural
disasters, the production level of agriculture and animal
husbandry is relatively low and is poorly capable of
withstanding calamities. Therefore, the Tibetan
meteorological service has been focused on agricultural
production and animal husbandry. In addition to short-term
weather forecasts, meteorologists have experimented with
artificial weather creation in major agricultural areas.
Thanks to the efforts in preventing hailstorms but creating
rain in Chengguan District, Lhasa in 1987, agricultural
production escaped both hail and drought disasters, with
grain output increasing by more than 1.5 million kg over the
previous year. Local people happily praised the region's
Meteorological Station, saying: "Eliminating hailstorms
and creating rainfall to conquer nature; serving agriculture
and enabling the poor to get prosperous''.
Closely related to meteorological services,
scientific and technological workers studied forecasting
methods, and analysed the characteristics of the shear lines
of rainstorms on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The Research
Institute of Astronomy and Calendar, set up in 1981, has
been studying the movement of the sun, the moon and stars,
as well as their changes in four seasons, publishing the
Selected Points of the 17th Cycle of the Dus-vkhor-lugs and
other achievements.
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