Haryana New Secretariat Building gets first Earthquake Warning System in country

Haryana’s New Secretariat Building in Chandigarh has become first building in the country to have an early Earthquake Warning and Security system (onsite).
The system was installed by New Delhi based Terra Techcom Private Limited and Secretary Electronics GmbH, Germany.
Key facts

• The system can provide crucial seconds for evacuation in event of an earthquake and is already being used in 26 countries around the world.
• It works on the principle of detection of primary and secondary seismic waves of an earthquake.
• The primary waves are fastest kind of seismic wave and are the initial vertical movements beneath the earth that do not cause any damage.
• They are soon followed by secondary waves that travel beneath the earth horizontally and have the potential to cause damage. They are generally known to us as an earthquake.
• The system detects intensity of the primary waves and gives out warning alarm only when the intensity of the secondary waves is high enough to potentially cause damage.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2016