Shanghai Completes Massive Underground Bunker to Protect Citizens from Disasters

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Shanghai’s Civil Defense Office recently announced completion of the city’s largest subterranean bunker, spanning an area of over 90,000 square meters, reported Shanghai Morning Post. The massive underground shelter is able to accommodate 200,000 citizens at a time, offering protection from ground-level disasters such as nuclear radiation, poisonous gas releases, or terrorist blasts.

According to Shanghai Morning Post, 15 tunnels, each of which stretches 4,000 meters, link more than 10 trading centers, office buildings, and residential buildings throughout the city. The complex is equipped with its own power supply, ventilation, and power storage capability, which is able to ensure a daily underground supply for 1–2 weeks. The shelter is also well connected to ground-level railway transportation from southern Xingzhuang region to northern Baoshan, providing flexibility to those seeking refuge from disasters. During non-emergencies, portions of the underground bunker could potentially be used as a commercial garage or storehouse. 

Experts and governmental officials have long urged China to improve its emergency response systems for both human-caused events like chemical accidents and natural disasters such as earthquakes. To improve information exchange among departments—including environmental authorities, police, fire control, and meteorological experts— emergency response systems are being formed at the national, provincial, and municipal levels. For example, the National Atomic Energy Authority is setting up a response system to ensure the safety of the country’s nuclear power production; there are also ongoing efforts to improve both regulations and infrastructure related to nuclear power generation.

To cope with strong and medium-scale earthquakes, Shanghai has also begun building a system of public earthquake shelters. The shelters are being built above ground and away from tall buildings, and are being equipped with independent water and power supply systems and wireless communications. In addition, China has established its first permanent, digital earthquake monitoring network in Shanghai, providing updated and accurate forecasting information to the government. The country hopes to avoid a repeat of the devastation caused by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and claimed 240,000 lives.