Uttarakhand

• 16 Nov 2022

Uttarakhand Earthquake Alert App to Be Upgraded

Why in News?

On November 15, 2022, Piyush Rautela, Executive Director, Uttarakhand Disaster Management Authority, informed that the mobile application 'Uttarakhand Earthquake Alert' app developed by the State Disaster Management Authority, Disaster Management Department (USDMA) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee will be upgraded. For this, a proposal of Rs 58 crore has been sent to the central government by USDMA .

Key Points

• Uttarakhand is the first state in the country to develop an early earthquake warning system.
• Girish Joshi, senior disaster management expert at the World Bank project, said the earthquake alert app works on a sensor-based system. So far, there are about 163 sensors installed in the state from Chakrata to Pithoragarh, based on the input received from which the 'Alert App' beeps in the event of an earthquake, but there is a need to increase the sensors to develop an accurate warning system. Sensors will be installed at 350 new locations in different parts of the state to upgrade the Uttarakhand Earthquake Alert app.
• He informed that in the coming time the existing network would be made more intensive by installing more than 500 sensors in the state. The objective is to have at least one sensor at a minimum distance of 5-10 km. Not only Uttarakhand, the surrounding states including Delhi will also be benefited by these sensors.
• Seismologist Girish Joshi said that when an earthquake occurs, P waves and S waves travel towards the upper surface (ground landscape) in different directions from the center. The P wave travels faster and triggers sensors mounted in the landscape. The data from the sensor reaches the control room and an alert is issued immediately. In this way, the user gets an alert through the mobile app.
• The USDMA claims that an alert was received on some mobile phones in Delhi, including Uttarakhand, about the 5.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal on November 12. The alert was received on those mobiles that updated the app from time to time.