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By Pallava Bagla
India has embarked on a futuristic lifeline project that can help save hundreds of thousands of lives in the event of a big earthquake. While science today does not permit accurate forecasting of earthquakes, issuing an early warning is still a possibility when an earthquake begins. In a queer geological trait, most earthquakes first trigger a fast moving but non-lethal wave and a few moments later do the massive deadly wave that causes the real shaking and damage. This tiny window, if tapped accurately, can help in providing a suitable early warning of an earthquake. Take the case of Delhi. Experts say up to a 90-second early warning can be provided if a massive earthquake with an epicentre in Uttarakhand were to hit in the Himalayas. This alert of an impending shaking sometimes called a 'shake alert' can help people take shelter or at least run out to open ground. Similar early warning systems already operate in Japan, China, Taiwan, Turkey and Mexico.
If everything goes according to plan, India could also launch a similar system once the pilot experiment is successful. The first trials of the Indian experimental system are expected to be done next month. The series of huge earthquakes and aftershocks in Nepal have brought home the massive risk most of the north Indian cities face from temblors that may originate in the Himalayan region. In a 2007 assessment, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) found almost 59 per cent of India 'vulnerable to moderate or severe seismic hazards'.
Read more:
India working on early warning system on quakes
India has embarked on a futuristic lifeline project that can help save hundreds of thousands of lives in the event of a big earthquake. While science today does not permit accurate forecasting of earthquakes, issuing an early warning is still a possibility when an earthquake begins. In a queer geological trait, most earthquakes first trigger a fast moving but non-lethal wave and a few moments later do the massive deadly wave that causes the real shaking and damage. This tiny window, if tapped accurately, can help in providing a suitable early warning of an earthquake. Take the case of Delhi. Experts say up to a 90-second early warning can be provided if a massive earthquake with an epicentre in Uttarakhand were to hit in the Himalayas. This alert of an impending shaking sometimes called a 'shake alert' can help people take shelter or at least run out to open ground. Similar early warning systems already operate in Japan, China, Taiwan, Turkey and Mexico.
If everything goes according to plan, India could also launch a similar system once the pilot experiment is successful. The first trials of the Indian experimental system are expected to be done next month. The series of huge earthquakes and aftershocks in Nepal have brought home the massive risk most of the north Indian cities face from temblors that may originate in the Himalayan region. In a 2007 assessment, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) found almost 59 per cent of India 'vulnerable to moderate or severe seismic hazards'.
Read more:
India working on early warning system on quakes
