NEW DELHI: Taking serious note of the warning of a massive earthquake again in a fault line near Indonesia, the Science and Technology Ministry has said it has enough capability to issue an early alert in the event of a repeat tsunami.

Speaking to The Hindu here on Friday, Science and Technology Secretary V.S. Ramamurthy said scientists at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Island, had predicted the tremblor, which struck the Indonesia region three months after the December 26, 2004 quake and tsunami, and there was no reason to doubt their fresh warning.

According to the scientists, stress in the region south of the area where the March 28 quake occurred increased significantly, priming it for a massive mega-thrust quake, where one tectonic plate slips beneath another. The risk of a fresh quake is even greater than it was before March 28 and that it could occur soon.

A report published by The Guardian quoted the head of the research team, John McCloskey, as saying "there are several indications that this one looks like a stronger interaction than the last. The actual stresses we measure are more or less the same but the ripeness of the fault now is of real concern."

Prof. Ramamurthy said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) was fully geared to meet any eventuality. Following the steps taken over the past few months, it was now in a position to assess the possibility of a tsunami and issue a general alert within half hour of the occurrence of an earthquake in the tsunami-genic region off the Indonesian coast.

The steps included speeding up the analysis of the epicentre and magnitude of an earthquake. It now took only about 15 minutes, half the time taken earlier. Measures were also taken to ensure faster flow of information between the IMD and agencies responsible for tsunami warning in Indonesia, Thailand and other countries in the region. They would be affected if a tsunami was generated. To save time, duty officers at the IMD earthquake-monitoring unit were empowered to directly get in touch with their counterparts in these countries using the World Meteorological Organisation network as and when an earthquake with the potential to trigger a tsunami occurred.

The warning would be general. It was expected to take another two years before a full-fledged tsunami early warning system became operational. Thereafter the warning would be specific providing details such as how far seawater would enter land in different areas.

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