Someone just brought this article to my attention - here it is below and the link is to the original article.

Canie
************************************************************
China plans world's deepest lab

The Chinese Government says it is to build what it claims to be the world's deepest underground laboratory, 5,000m below the earth's surface, to study and predict earthquakes.

It will be built in Jiangsu province, in eastern China, along a major fault line which frequently causes big tremors.

The official Chinese media reports about the $18m project did not give many details about the plan; for example whether scientists would be able to work at such depths, or whether the laboratory would just be used to take rock samples, and monitor seismic movements.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

• Earthquake Prediction