The Hindu : National : Sophisticated system to be installed to detect deep sea movements

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 30, 2004

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Sophisticated system to be installed to detect deep sea movements

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 29 . The Centre has decided to install a sophisticated system for detecting deep sea movements, such as the tsunami, and develop a network with the countries in this region for sharing information on this.

The Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting System (DOARS), which be installed at a depth of 6 km under the sea, will have pressure sensors to detect the water movement. These will be linked to the satellite which will relay the information to the earth station.

Announcing this here today, the Minister of State for Science and Technology and Ocean Development, Kapil Sibal, said the project would cost about Rs. 100-125 crores and would be functional within 30 months.

"The network we are planning to establish with Sumatra, Myanmar and Thailand will also involve using software technology, already available with the international organisations. This virtual reality system would calculate the magnitude and intensity of the tsunami from the data available to it."

Data buoys

India already has 20 data buoys (sensors) installed in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea but these were not pressure-sensitive and now appeared inadequate. The DOARS system would involve installation of 6-12 more pressure sensors and linking the data buoys to the system that would record changes in the water level.

Rejecting the claim that the intensity of the tragedy could have been lessened if India had been part of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, Mr. Sibal said the Centre supplied information of the 26 Pacific rim countries on the east of Sumatra while the tsunami hit the regions on the west of Sumatra, extending up to African coast. About a dozen more acoustic tidal gauges were to be installed to help detect tidal changes.

Pointing out that the tsunami could only be detected when it hit the shallow waters on the coast, Mr. Sibal said that it did not leave enough time for evacuation.

According to Mr. Sibal, this was the world's fifth worst earthquake and the worst after 1964 when Alaska was hit by the massive quake.

Also, going by the reports that the landmass at Sumatra had suffered a shift up to 30 metres because of the quake, the Centre had decided to despatch Sagar Kanya, the sea search vessel, to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to detect any geographical displacement. It would survey the island for any physical changes.

On the rehabilitation efforts, Mr. Sibal said his Ministry had developed a composite material for the construction which was light-weight, water-resistant and had a life span of 5 years.

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