Tsunami

Q. How Tsunami Early Warning System of India works?

Ans. A state-of-the-art Tsunami Warning System made operational in September 2007 has been in continuous operation to forewarn of an impending disaster in less than 10 minutes of an occurrence of an earthquake. The National Tsunami Early Warning Centre (NTEWC) is operated 24x7. A network of seismometers, data buoys, tide gauges have been employed for receiving real-time data for generation and issue of tsunami alert.

Q. What is the functioning structure of Tsunami Early Warning System of India and how it takes data?

Ans. The data from roughly 329 seismic stations (27 national and 302 international) are received and processed. Further, NTEWC has been receiving data from 60 international tide gauge stations in the Indian Ocean in real-time. The early warning system monitors potential tsunamigenic earthquakes, sea level propagation of tsunami waves in the ocean, and consequent sea level changes.

This centre has been recognized as a Regional Tsunami Service Provider (RTSP) for the Indian Ocean Region. The Centre has been identified formally by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO along with Australia and Indonesia as Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System for providing tsunami service to the Indian Ocean Rim countries from October 2011.