The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is planning to set up five observatories for real time monitoring of the earthquake in various parts of the country.
The observatories could be useful to understand and predict the nature of the tremors and its possible impact, GSI officials told The Hindu . The number of such monitoring stations is likely to increase in future. “The remote stations (observatories) will be set up in Agartala in Tripura, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, Mangan in Sikkim, Nagpur in Maharashtra, and Jammu. These will become operational within three to four months,” Deputy Director General R. Dharuman said.
Mr. Dharuman also said that the central hub and research centre, called Data Receiving and Processing Centre (DRPC), would be set up at the GSI office in Salt Lake on the south-eastern fringes of Kolkata. The concerned regions had been selected as they are highly prone to earthquakes.
The observatories, called ‘seismo-geodetic monitoring stations’, will be used for real time monitoring of various features of seismic activities. “It will monitor intensity of the ground movement during a tremor, direction and velocity of the movement,” said a GSI scientist.
The information will be used for ‘precursor studies’ or ways of determining nature of earthquakes so that precautionary measures could be taken in earthquake-prone areas, the scientists said.
According to the GSI, the real time monitoring system would enable geophysicists to recognise seismic features which have strong bearing on earthquake generating process. Characteristics of earthquakes in each of the regions would be analysed for evolving a comprehensive hazard mitigation model or ways to minimise the loss of lives due to earthquakes.
“This would ensure that proper precautionary measures are taken in thesequake-prone areas and loss of lives could be minimised,” Dr. Dharuman said. Equipment such as broad band seismograph, accelerograph, Differential Global Positioning System and Very Small Aperture Terminal will be used. While seismograph is an instrument used to measure seismic waves or shock waves resulting from earthquakes, accelerograph is used to measure strong motion of earthquakes that make conventional seismographs go off-scale.
