Chinese officials fearing damage from a devastating earthquake are to spend 544 million yuan (HK$506 million) on strengthening buildings in Beijing, the China Daily reported yesterday. The north is undergoing heavy seismic activity, and seismologists have warned a damaging earthquake of five or higher on the Richter scale could strike the region in the next few years. The State Council has set up a fund to reinforce buildings in a 150,000 square km radius around Beijing.