Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), which houses the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) established as the country’s response 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, can detect tsunamigenic earthquakes occurring in oceans within 10 minutes of the occurrence and with the help of numerical models, it provides advisories to the tsunami threat zones on the coast.
The warning centre operating round the clock (24X7) has been functioning seamless since Oct. 2007 and is equipped with a real-time observational network of broadband seismic stations on the land, tsunami buoys in the open ocean and tide gauges on the coast, informed INCOIS scientists on Monday.
Participating in the webinar, Tsunami Awareness and Preparedness, organised by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Ministry of Home Affairs), and INCOIS, scientists B. Ajay Kumar and R.S. Mahendra said the centre had a robust Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure built up for timely dissemination of advisories through email, fax, SMS and website to concerned national and State disaster management authorities and other stakeholders.
The meeting was held on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and more than 100 participants from research and administrative community attended. The ITEWC not only acts as national warning centre, but also as a ‘Regional Tsunami Service Provider’ responsible to provide services to all Indian Ocean Member States under the framework of UNESCO’s the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS), they explained.
INCOIS is also involved with UNESCO in the implementation of a community-based programme called “Tsunami Ready”. It has been successfully implemented in association with the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), in two communities - Venkatraipur and Noliasahi of Odisha.
Now, they are recognised internationally as Tsunami Ready Communities by UNESCO-Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). India is the first country to achieve this distinction among all Indian Ocean rim countries and efforts are underway to extend this programme to other vulnerable coastal communities, said an official release.
Published - December 27, 2022 01:56 am IST
