Institute of Disaster Prevention (IDP) was established by State Seismological Bureau (later China Seismological Bureau) in 1975. In 1985, it was promoted as the College of Seismology Techniques, and renamed IDP by the former State Education Committee in 1992. It is shortened to IDP in 2009.

Under the administration of China Earthquake Administration―(CEA, former China Seismological Bureau), IDP is now the only higher educational institute of disaster prevention and reduction in China.

IDP is located in Yanjiao economic development zone of Sanhe City, Hebei province, which is only 30 kilometers away from Tian’anmen Square in the center of Beijing. The campus with beautiful surroundings covers an area of 100 acres and a total floor space of 250,000 m2. There are over 100 laboratories and 76 off-campus training bases in IDP, as well as a modern library with a collection of 1100,000 volumes, 17 databases and 2 resource platforms. About 8,000 students are studying in IDP, where there are fresh air and beautiful surroundings.

IDP currently has 11 departments，including Department of Earthquake Science, Department of Disaster Prevention Engineering, Department of Disaster Prevention Apparatus, Department of Disaster Information Engineering, Department of Economic Management, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Foreign Language, Department of Fundamental Courses, Department of Physical Education and Department of Politics, and  two research departments of Integrated Research Department of Disaster Reduction and Research Department of Higher Education. There are around 8,400 students on campus and 500 full-time teachers, among whom 112 professors and associate professors, 52 doctor’s and 255 master’s degree holders. Meanwhile, from home and abroad, IDP employs over 20 longterm experts and scholars to carry out teaching and research. Also we invite foreign teachers to lecture in our college every year.  

Revolving around national disaster prevention and reduction business, IDP dedicates to improving its personnel cultivation system via focusing on specialities construction in the field of disaster prevention and reduction.

Based on the field of disaster prevention and reduction and geared to the needs of economic and social development, IDP sticks to the principle of “Humanistic Administration, Characteristic Management, Strengthening School with Talents, Harmonious campus” and the idea of “Optimizing Structure, Deepening the Reform, Enhancing Features, Improving Quality”, and has developed a multi-level, multi-type and multi-form modern school system including postgraduate education, adult academic credentials education, vocational and technical training in order to cultivate high-quality specialists with innovation and practice ability to meet the need of the society.

For many years, IDP has been propelling the construction of disciplines and specialities, while focusing on the profession and aiming at serving the society. It has greatly improved its talents’ cultivating quality and enhanced its scientific research power and social service level and became the core base for cultivating basic personnels in national disaster prevention and reduction business. Motivated by the school motto, “Enhance virtue and wisdom, and relieve disasters and dangers.”, all faculty and students are devoting to building IDP into a talent cultivating base, a technology innovation center, a cultural radiation center and an information exchange center with moderate scale, reasonable structure, good quality, outstanding features, and concentration on specialities in disaster prevention and reduction.