Uttarakhand gets India’s first earthquake early warning system

Uttarakhand became first Indian state to install a system to detect earthquakes and disseminate warnings.
The first system has been installed in its capital Dehradun which will issue warnings 1-40 seconds before earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more occur.
The system is designed and manufactured by Italian firm, Space Dynamics which already has installed it in Japan, Italy and US.
Features of earthquake early warning

• The system is incorporated with sensors which are capable to detect P (Primary) and S (Secondary) waves generated during an earthquake.
• It is capable to detect the harmless P wave, which travels faster than the S wave for advance warning.
• The system has the earliest detection among those currently in use worldwide.

The second system will be established at Pithoragarh in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.
According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Uttarakhand falls under seismic zone V i.e. High-Risk Seismic Zone. Apart from it, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rann of Kutch (Gujarat), Northern Bihar and Andaman & Nicobar Islands also fall under this seismic zone.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2015