India's First Earthquake Early Warning Mobile App

• 05 Aug 2021

India's first early warning mobile application which can alert users before an earthquake was recently launched in Uttarakhand.

• The application is called 'Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert' and has been developed by IIT Roorkee.
• The project was sponsored by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority.

Features

• The application uses an Earthquake Early Warning (EEW), a real-time earthquake information system that can detect the onset of the earthquake.
• It can issue warnings before significant tremors take hold of an area.
• The app can also help to tell the location of people trapped inside a structure following an earthquake.
• It disseminates information regarding the occurrence of an earthquake, as well as the expected time of arrival and intensity at the tremor location to prevent any loss of life.
• It is compatible with both Android and iOS platforms, and is available in two versions.

EEW exploits the Advantage of Varying Speeds of Seismic Waves

• According to IIT-Roorkee experts, the physical basis for an earthquake early warning 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.