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Development of Earthquake Early Warning Dissemination System for Northern India
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  • Govind Rathore,
  • Kamal .,
  • Ravi S. Jakka,
  • Mukat Lal Sharma,
  • Ashok Kumar
Govind Rathore
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Corresponding Author:govind.eqd@gmail.com

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Kamal .
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
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Ravi S. Jakka
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
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Mukat Lal Sharma
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
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Ashok Kumar
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
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Abstract

Himalaya is one of the most seismically active and earthquake-prone regions of the world. Recently an Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) for Northern India has been developed which includes around 165 strong ground motion accelerometers installed in Uttarakhand (India). A timely earthquake early warning of few seconds can save people’s lives and thus the development of an improved Warning Dissemination System (WDS) component of EEWS is much required. For this purpose, an improved WDS has been developed. This system currently uses newly designed low-cost public sirens and smartphone apps to alert people in case of an earthquake. The developed sirens have been currently installed in two major cities of Uttarakhand (India) and in all district emergency operations centers for the last 2 years. On 4th August 2021, the newly developed app “Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert” for WDS has been officially launched by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority for operational use. Further, a GIS-based maintenance system is also developed for the maintenance of the complete system, which automatically checks the health and keeps records of the sirens along with the smartphone users. This app gives the facility to the users for sharing their current location with disaster rescue teams after the earthquake early warning alert. Detailed scientific principles and working mechanism of newly developed dissemination system along with its applicability to disseminate the real-time information in case of an earthquake will be presented.