An earthquake prevention and disaster control center will be established in Kunming, capital ofsouthwest China's Yunnan Province, which often suffers from serious earthquakes.

The center will include earthquake monitoring and forecasting, information transmission, emergency action, and earthquake prevention and popularization departments, according to local governmental officials.

Officials said the establishment of the center will greatly improve the earthquake monitoring and prevention ability of the city.

Yunnan Province is one of the most quake-stricken regions in China only after Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang, due to its geologicallocation. The strongest earthquake in the province history happened in Kunming.

Since 1900, a total of 13 earthquakes, measuring over 5 on the Richter Scale, including six quakes, measuring over 6 on the Richter Scale, have hit Kunming. The latest of the strong quakes happened in 2000.

The earthquake prevention center is expected be complete withinthree years, and the center will be connected with the provincial earthquake prevention network.