India: Tsunami early warning system by September 2007

The tsunami early warning system will be operational by September 2007, according to P.S. Goel, Secretary, Government of India, Department of Ocean Development (DOD). He disclosed this after laying the foundation stone for the "Disaster mitigation technology demonstration and training centre" on the premises of the Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology of the Annamalai University at Portonovo on Sunday. Mr. Goel said the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation and the National Institute of Ocean Technology were working on the system. While the integration of design and engineering aspects would be indigenised, certain equipment meant for the system might be imported. As the system would be highly analytical, it would be foolproof and free from false alarms, he said. Unlike in Japan that was often pounded by the tsunami, it was a rare occurrence in India. Mr. Goel said the tsunami warning system basically started with seismology activity detection, done in multiple ways. The DOD was establishing the full functional unit at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services at Hyderabad. Already, five tide gauges had been deployed at places such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chennai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam, to monitor changes in tide behaviour. Source: The Hindu

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