Lok Sabha Question No. 3658 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-08
Subject: Tsunami and Earthquake Warning
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNPURIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3658 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 08, 2018

## TSUNAMI AND EARTHQUAKE WARNING

## 3658. SHRI SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNAPURIA:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has achieved success in the field of early warning systems of Tsunami and Earthquake;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the total amount allocated/spent on the research during the last three years and the current year;
- (d) whether  any  advance  warning  system  is  available  in  the  global market which the Government proposes to acquire; and
- (e)

## (a)

- if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (Dr. HARSH VARDHAN)

## Yes Madam.

The  Indian  Tsunami  Early  Warning  Centre  (ITEWC)  was  established after  the  deadly  Tsunami  on  26  December,  2004  at  Indian  National Centre  for  Ocean  Information  Sciences  (INCOIS),  autonomous  body under  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences,  Hyderabad.    The  centre  has  the latest scientific techniques to provide early warnings of an impending tsunami  to  the  entire  Indian  Ocean  region  and  has  functioned flawlessly since its establishment in October 2007.

To date, there is no proven scientific technique available, anywhere in the world, to predict the occurrence of earthquakes with reasonable  degree  of  accuracy  with  regard  to  space,  time  and magnitude. However an Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) System was developed in recent times for issue of earthquake alert/warning based on  P-wave  arrival  time  after  occurrence  of  an  earthquake.  The warning time will range from a few seconds to a little more than a minute  and  will  primarily  be  a  function  of  the  distance  of  the  user from the epicenter.

- (b) The  Indian  Tsunami  Early  Warning  System  comprises  a  real-time seismic  monitoring  network  of  17  broadband  seismic  stations  to detect tsunamigenic earthquakes. In addition to that, INCOIS is also receiving  data  from  around  90  national  seismic  stations  which  are established  by  various  national  local/regional  centres.  Also,  INCOIS has a real-time sea-level network with 7 tsunami buoys in the open ocean  and  35  tide  gauge  stations  at  different  coastal  locations  to monitor tsunamis, and pre-run scenarios database of tsunami. ITEWC is  also receiving data around from 350 seismic stations, 50 tsunami buoys  and  300  tide  gauges  of  other  international  agencies  in  real time.  The  centre  is  capable  of  detecting  tsunamigenic  earthquakes occurring in the Indian Ocean as well as in the Global Oceans within 10 minutes of their occurrence and disseminates the advisories to the concerned authorities.

The National Centre for Seismology (NCS), maintains a country wide national  seismological  network,  to  detect  and  locate  earthquakes occurring in and around the country. The network consists of state-ofart  digital  broadband  seismographs,  VSAT  based  communication systems and latest tools for dissemination of earthquake information to  the  concern  disaster  management  authorities  and  other  user agencies  in  least  possible  time.  The  network  also  includes  a  17station  real  time  seismic  monitoring  system  to  monitor  and  report large magnitude earthquakes capable of generating tsunamis on the Indian coastal regions.

- (c) R & D projects have been sanctioned to different research organizations, universities to study the paleo-tsunamis and tectonics in the Indian Ocean region. During the XII plan period, 6 projects were funded  under  the  research  program  "Tsunami  &  Tectonic  Related Studies  in  the  Indian  Ocean  Region'  with  a  budget  outlay  of  Rs. 550.545 lakhs.
- (d) ITEWC  is  considered  as  one  of  the  most  modern  tsunami  warning centres of the world. The ITEWC has all necessary infrastructure and capabilities to give tsunami advisories to India as well as to Indian Ocean countries. ITEWC has been designated as one of the Tsunami Service  Providers  (TSP)  for  the  entire  Indian  Ocean  Region  by  the Intergovernmental  Oceanographic  Commission  (IOC)  of  UNESCO  on 12 October 2011. Since then, it is providing tsunami advisories and related services  to all  countries  in  the  Indian  Ocean  Rim  (25 Countries).  The  major  highlight  of  the  warning  centre  is  100% detection of Tsunamis about threat threshold and no FALSE ALARMS. While acting as one of the TSP for the Indian Ocean region, ITEWC is also  developing  its  ability  to  provide  tsunami  advisories  for  global ocean events. Hence, there is no proposal to acquire such system.
- (e) Does not arise

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