India plans smart tsunami and earthquake early warning system with underwater sensors
The initiative, still at the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage, is conducted by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (Incois), Hyderabad. It aims to overcome limitations in the existing system that relies primarily on surface buoys.
The communication cable equipped with sensors will be laid at a depth of about 2,500 m in the Indian Ocean from the Andaman Islands to the seismically active Andaman-Nicobar subduction zone.
This cable will host a suite of sensors, including bottom pressure recorders, seismometers, tilt meters, and hydrophones, enabling real-time monitoring of seismic activity, undersea landslides, and sudden pressure changes.
It will help gather long-term observations of the Indian Ocean and study oceanographic and geophysical parameters for climate research and operational applications also related to storm surge early warning systems.
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"The region is monitored with tsunami buoys that have a bottom pressure recorder and a surface buoy," says T M Balakrishnan Nair, Director of Incois. "Though data is transmitted to the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre in Incois, maintaining the buoys is challenging as they are vulnerable to environmental conditions." He adds that the system will be reliable and provide high-bandwidth data related to seismic activity directly to shore stations.
The Andaman-Nicobar subduction zone is where tectonically active Indian plates subduct beneath the Eurasian plate. This process is responsible for the formation of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and has historically been a hotspot for seismic activity. The entire northwestern segment ruptured during the 2004 Andaman-Sumatra earthquake, which led to the tsunami.
The plan also includes setting up a dedicated shore station in the Andaman Islands, which may eventually evolve into a regional tsunami service centre, given the islands' vulnerability to tsunamis. The cable will be connected to the data processing centre in Hyderabad to ensure rapid dissemination of alerts.
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