The Hindu : National : Brainstorming session next month

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Thursday, Dec 30, 2004

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National

Brainstorming session next month

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 29 . The Department of Science and Technology has convened a "brainstorming" meeting of various scientific institutions in Delhi early next month to discuss plans for establishing an early tsunami-warning system.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 41st annual convention of the Indian Geophysical Union here today, V. P. Dimri, director, National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), said the institute's seismologists would attend the meet which would study the impact of tsunami, apart from discussing a mechanism for setting up the warning system.

Earlier addressing the inaugural session, Mr. Dimri said the NGRI seismological observatory had recorded 130 aftershocks till 9 a.m. today with 95 occurring in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the rest in Sumatra. Nine aftershocks reported in Andaman and Nicobar and two in Sumatra had a magnitude of more than 6 on the Richter Scale.

The NGRI was monitoring the aftershocks and providing information to authorities on the possible effects on the sea.

The institute would create a dynamic website on the earthquake scenario and establish on-line connectivity with the outreach seismological observatories in Dharwad, Kothagudem and Cuddapah. It would send a team of seismologists to the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to monitor the aftershocks.

Inaugurating the three-day convention on "Inter and Intra-plate Seismicity in India — present knowledge and future strategy," the former NRSA director, B. L. Deekshatulu, stressed the need for putting in place communication and administrative infrastructure to mitigate the impact of tsunami-type calamities.

Larry Brown of Earth and Atmospheric Science, Cornell University, U.S., pointed out that the Pacific region had a long history of tsunamis and called for wider international collaboration in tackling such disasters.

Mr. Dimri released a seismological bulletin of Maitri station, Antarctica, published by the NGRI.

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