From lectures to drills, a series of earthquake preparedness activities were held across China on Sunday, as May 12 marks the National Disaster Prevention and Reduction Day, which commemorates the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake that left more than 80,000 people dead or missing in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The day was established in 2009 to raise public awareness about disaster prevention and to increase knowledge and skills to enable survivors to better cope with during and after disasters, according to China National Commission for Disaster Reduction.
On Sunday, the first National Earthquake Prevention and Disaster Reduction Science Popularization Home Event, which is organized by the China Earthquake Administration (CEA), is held in Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province.
During the event, four well-known experts including Chen Yong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a geophysicist, delivered speeches from different perspectives such as Earth science, rural earthquake resistance, massive earthquake and disaster prevention, and earthquake early warning. Meanwhile, the lectures are webcast live, presenting the knowledge to a wider group of people.
"When a massive earthquake strikes, people got very short time - a few seconds, at most one minute (to escape). People must have enough knowledge, skills and training to instinctively choose the safest and most reasonable ways to avoid earthquake hazards," said Gao Mengtan, an expert from the Institute of Geophysics under the China Earthquake Administration (CEA).
Similar themed activities including lectures, exhibitions, book donations are slated to be held nationwide to raise public awareness about earthquake prevention and to increase knowledge and skills to enable survivors to better cope with during and after the disaster.
Mianyang City in southwest China's Sichuan Province carried out an emergency drill to test helicopters and drones' response to an earthquake.
Schools across the country also organized earthquake drills. In Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, firefighters taught students how to use earthquake rescue equipment such as life detectors and hydraulic demolition crusher.
Emergency authorities across China hold various activities to enhance public capabilities surviving earthquake
Canada's energy industry is preparing for possible disruptions as the country faces the Trump administration's looming threat of a 25 percent tariff.
Following his presidential election victory in November, Trump announced he would sign an executive order imposing a 25-percent tariff on all Canadian goods imported into the United States.
Concerns are rising in Canada over the tariff threat, particularly its potential consequences for the energy sector.
Turner Valley, located about 80 kilometers from Calgary in the Canadian Province of Alberta, is a key hub for the region's petroleum industry, with visible signs of energy production throughout.
In 1914, a wet natural gas eruption from a well bore in the area laid the foundation for Alberta's petrochemical industry, marking the start of the modern era of oil and gas exploration and processing.
However, the threat of sweeping tariffs poses a potential challenge to energy companies in the region.
"Canada makes approximately four and a half million barrels a day of oil, almost all of it going to the United States as an export product. So with that backdrop, a 25 percent tariff on 140 billion dollars is roughly 35 billion dollars a year, and that is something that will have a major local Canadian economic impact," said Grant Strem, an expert advising various energy companies.
Signs are already emerging that peripheral companies are preparing for a fallout by scaling back operations and looking for new opportunities elsewhere.
Jeff LaFrenz, CEO and co-founder of Calgary-based VizworX, a custom software development firm, works with clients across the energy industry.
"We're looking at this from the perspective of, okay, maybe the U.S. stuff gets put off now, and maybe we go after these other ones, which we seem to have more traction and more trust that we can actually move forward on that. And so ultimately, when those questions are raised, you're going to start looking for places where there's less risk. And right now, the U.S. is becoming more risk at this point," LaFrenz said.
The impact of these tariffs would not be confined to Canada alone. U.S. refineries, particularly those in the Midwest, process nearly all of Canada's crude oil exports.
A potential tariff could increase the cost of refining, with the possibility of those higher costs being passed on to consumers.
While the prospect of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods presents significant challenges for the energy industry, LaFrenz views it as a chance to explore new avenues.
"These kind of events force us to look to other places and find opportunities we may not have really considered before, but actually might even be better in many cases," he said.
Canadian energy sector braces for potential US tariffs