Twenty-five years after it suffered a catastrophic earthquake, Tangshan in north China's Hebei Province plans to build an international earthquake science center for gathering quake-related information.

   Tangshan, which suffered tremendous loss of life and economic damage in the 1976 earthquake, is now making full use of the scientific data gleaned from the quarter-century of study of the calamity.

   The center, occupying 26.7 hectares of land, will include an earthquake museum, and sub-centers for the causes of earthquakes, quake simulation and demonstration of quake prevention systems.

   To commemorate the 240,000 victims as well as those who lost their lives in the disaster relief work, an altar will be built and an ancient-style bronze vessel, seven meters long, 2.8 meters wide and 1.976 meters tall, will be placed on it.

   The center will also include two memorial walls inscribed with the names of the victims.

   The project, jointly launched by a U.S. company and its Chinese counterpart in Tangshan, will cost 7.31 million U.S. dollars, about 48 percent of which comes from the U.S. side.

   Construction will begin later this year and should be finished in one year.