IIT Roorkee in cooperation with Uttarakhand govt. is setting up 100 earthquake sensors in the state

Dehradun, September 13: The Indian Institute of Technology of Roorkee has decided to set up 100 earthquake sensors in and around Chamoli to Dharchula in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. It is an exercise to provide an alert in case there’s any high magnitude of earthquake beneath the surface of Himalayas. 

 

The project supported by the Uttarakhand government includes installation of sirens in the state government’s Emergency Operation Centres at Dehradun and all district headquarters. It builds upon the existing network of 84 sensors between Uttarkashi and Chamoli in the Garhwal region put in place as part of a pilot project supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

These on-site sensors stream data in real-time to a computer server at the institute using network of the Uttarakhand government which is being processed for issuing warning for magnitude 6 and above earthquakes.

"Looking at the seismic map of India, we know that most of the northern region cities are under a constant threat of a severe or moderate earthquake. The aim of our study in the Himalayan region was to ensure a working mechanism which will be able to save lives," said M L Sharma from IIT Roorkee's Department of Earthquake Engineering and the Principal Investigator of the project. Sirens, connected to the server, have been fitted within the campus of IIT Roorkee to warn of an impending high magnitude earthquake in the region.

Dr. Sharma said Dehradun would get a lead time of about 10 seconds. “It may not be much. Not all may be in a position to respond that quickly. But, at least measures could be in place for the immediate shut down of hazardous units’’. IIT Roorkee, he said, was working on scaling up the alert system to cover cities like Delhi and Chandigarh which were in the vulnerable zone. Delhi, for instance, could get a lead time of 70 to 80 seconds. The system is being designed to issue an alarm for any earthquake with a magnitude of over 6 on the Richter scale.