In response, the government said that the dam would withstand an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 on the Richter scale. In an interview with Xinhua News, Lu Qizhou, President of China Power Investment Corporation said that Myitsone Hydropower Station follows the standard of fortification intensity 9, two points above the intensity of Zipingbu Hydropower Station that withstood 2008 Sichuan earthquake of 8.0 Richter scale. On the other hand, Burmese scientists who carried out the environmental assessment recommended building two smaller dams farther upstream instead of building in an earthquake-prone zone.