IIT Roorkee develops app that can detect quakes, send early alerts

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, has launched a mobile application that can detect the onset of earthquake and issue warnings in real time. The project has been sponsored by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority.

Launching ‘Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert’, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said considering Uttarakhand's vulnerability to earthquakes, people should be informed about the availability of a mobile application like this. 

India's first earthquake early warning app available on Android, iOS platforms

According to a press release by IIT Roorkee, earthquake early warning (EEW) is a real-time earthquake information system that can detect the onset of the earthquake and issue warnings before the significant tremors take hold of an area. The app is available on both Android and iOS platforms. It is a path-breaking achievement for the institute as it is the country’s first application for notifying people about earthquake alerts. It can also help tell the location of people trapped inside a structure following an earthquake. 

“The physical basis for an EEW system is the speed of the seismic waves, which propagate after the release of stress from faults movement. The strong ground shaking is caused by shear waves which travel at about half the speed of the primary waves and much slower than electromagnetic signals. The EEW system exploits this advantage," the release read.  

Initially, the initiative was started as a pilot project for the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand with support from the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences. Later, the project was extended by the Uttarakhand government.  

IIT Roorkee Director Professor Ajit K Chaturvedi, said, “I take immense pride in sharing that IITR has designed an Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) mobile app, for timely dissemination of the information regarding an earthquake occurrence in the neighbourhood and the expected time of arrival and intensity at the location to prevent any loss of life.” 

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