DEHRADUN: The country’s first earthquake early warning system, on the lines of those in Japan, Mexico and the US, will be launched in Uttarakhand on Wednesday. When an earthquake hits, an alert will go out on phones in areas where seismic waves are expected to reach, giving people enough time to seek out safe spaces.
Earthquake early warning systems keep track of quakes in real-time. Even the slowest seismic waves travel at a speed of over 11,000 kmph, which means those in areas away from the epicentre have seconds to respond. An early warning system gets an alert out in those few seconds.
The one in Uttarakhand will do the same, based on seismic data from 200 sensors across the Main Central Thrust zone (a major geological fault in the Himalayas).
“The sensors will relay signals in real time to the control unit at IIT-Roorkee. There, an algorithm will analyse the signals (how far the waves are expected to travel, which areas are likely to be hit, and so on),” said Piyoosh Rautela, executive director of the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA), which, along with IIT-Roorkee, has developed the Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert app. “An alert will be generated and sent out on the app if the quake is of a 5.5 magnitude or more.”
The app will notify people of the magnitude and origin of the quake, while counting down how much time one has. Once that time is up, an “I need help” red button and an “I am safe” green button will be displayed. Based on that, first responders can plan rescue operations.
“The system provides a lead time of a few seconds to a minute, depending on distance from the epicentre. In case of an earthquake in a hill district, for instance, people in Dehradun would get about 15 seconds to move,” said Prof Kamal from IIT-Roorkee (who goes by his first name).
The government is also installing sirens to sound alerts, especially in densely populated urban pockets.
Uttarakhand lies in the most seismically active zones IV and V. A quake of 6.8 magnitude had devastated Uttarkashi in 1991, claiming over a thousand lives. Another, also of 6.8 magnitude, struck Chamoli in 1999 and killed over a hundred. The biggest earthquake in the region, however, was over 200 years ago, in 1803, estimated to be of a magnitude of 7.
“There has been no earthquake of that magnitude since then. It had caused damage as far as Delhi, Mathura, Aligarh and Lucknow,” Rautela said. “Uttarakhand, therefore, faces high seismic hazard.”
