Tsunami warning system unveiled

India on monday unveiled its own tsunami early warning system put together by scientists, barely three years after...

India on monday unveiled its own tsunami early warning system put together by scientists, barely three years after it wreaked havoc along the country8217;s southern coastline. The National Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean was inaugurated by Minister of Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal in a ceremony attended by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, top scientists and senior government officials.

The tsunami warning centre, which took shape at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services INCOIS, would issue alerts for the killer waves within 30 minutes of an earthquake. 8220;We had promised to put in place a tsunami warning system soon after the December 2004 tsunami devastated many coastal parts of the country. We deliver the system today,8221; Sibal said after the inauguration.

A set of four BPRs have been installed in the Bay of Bengal region and were put to test on September 12 when a massive undersea earthquake hit southern Sumatra. The 8.2 magnitude earthquake in southern Sumatra region triggered tsunami alerts in adjoining countries, including India, INCOIS Director Shailesh Nayak said. 8220;There are two tsunamigenic zones in our vicinity 8212; the Andaman-Sumatra trench in the Bay of Bengal and the Makran coast in the Arabian Sea,8221; Nayak told PTI explaining the need to install BPRs in the two regions. The Centre established by Ministry of Earth Sciences at a cost of Rs 125 crore works in collaboration with

Department of Science and Technology, Department of Space and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and would give timely advisories to the Ministry of Home Affairs to disseminate warnings to the public as well the state emergency operations centres.

A red alert relayed by warning system requires the citizens and the administration to be prepared for evacuation while in the event of an orange alert the administration has to remain vigilant. INCOIS, in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services, has generated simulations of 550 possible scenarios of triggering of tsunami after massive earthquakes.