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10th January 2005, 06:50 PM
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West coast almost safe from tsunami waves: Dr. S R Shetye. Director, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa
According to existing records, the seismic activity in and around the Arabian Sea is non-existent and hence the possibility of a tsunami hitting the west coast of India is negligible, the National Institute of Oceanography Director, Dr Satish Shetye, said today.
Dr Shetye was answering questions from the media after he made a presentation to them on 'An intro to tsunamis; with special reference to the events of December 26, 2004'.
Dr Shetye said tsunamis were caused by ocean floor disturbances arising out of three factors - earthquakes, volcanic explosions and sub-marine landslides or mudslides. He also presented a chart that showed nil seismic activity in and around the Arabian Sea. On the other hand, the entire rim of the Pacific Ocean was shown full of seismic activity and was therefore called the 'Rim of Fire'. But the link between earthquakes and tsunamis was not so straightforward, Dr Shetye said.
Post-tsunami, the central government has convened a special meeting in Delhi on January 22 and 23 and invited experts from around the world, including experts associated with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre. Reportedly, the efficiency of the system employed in the Pacific Ocean is good, Dr Shetye said.
The NIO is also involved in half-a-dozen activities and various groups of its scientists will study different aspects of the tsunami. Dr Shetye said scientists of the NIO and the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research would leave on a cruise of the Andamans to study what actually happened. Another group would work with the Survey of India to chart out wave patterns that may help to evolve useful models for the future.
Referring to the Sumatra-tsunami, the death toll of which has now risen to over 1,50,000 people, Dr Shetye said that based on empirical data, the probability of tsunamis in the Indian Ocean was very small. Hence no attention was paid to the Indian Ocean and its floor did not have any instrumentation to monitor any kind of disturbances there.
Supporting his claims, Dr Shetye cited empirical data on the percentage distribution of tsunami's in the world's oceans. With 25.4 per cent, the Pacific Ocean has the highest occurrence of tsunamis, the East Indies has 20.3 per cent, Japan-Russia has 18.6 per cent and in the Bay of Bengal, the percentage is only 0.8.
"It was a low probability but high impact event. With more than 1.5 lakh people killed, this is the biggest killer tsunami in the recorded history of the world," Dr Shetye said
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Source: NT Staff Reporter
West coast almost safe from tsunami waves: Dr. S R Shetye. Director, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa
According to existing records, the seismic activity in and around the Arabian Sea is non-existent and hence the possibility of a tsunami hitting the west coast of India is negligible, the National Institute of Oceanography Director, Dr Satish Shetye, said today.
Dr Shetye was answering questions from the media after he made a presentation to them on 'An intro to tsunamis; with special reference to the events of December 26, 2004'.
Dr Shetye said tsunamis were caused by ocean floor disturbances arising out of three factors - earthquakes, volcanic explosions and sub-marine landslides or mudslides. He also presented a chart that showed nil seismic activity in and around the Arabian Sea. On the other hand, the entire rim of the Pacific Ocean was shown full of seismic activity and was therefore called the 'Rim of Fire'. But the link between earthquakes and tsunamis was not so straightforward, Dr Shetye said.
Post-tsunami, the central government has convened a special meeting in Delhi on January 22 and 23 and invited experts from around the world, including experts associated with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre. Reportedly, the efficiency of the system employed in the Pacific Ocean is good, Dr Shetye said.
The NIO is also involved in half-a-dozen activities and various groups of its scientists will study different aspects of the tsunami. Dr Shetye said scientists of the NIO and the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research would leave on a cruise of the Andamans to study what actually happened. Another group would work with the Survey of India to chart out wave patterns that may help to evolve useful models for the future.
Referring to the Sumatra-tsunami, the death toll of which has now risen to over 1,50,000 people, Dr Shetye said that based on empirical data, the probability of tsunamis in the Indian Ocean was very small. Hence no attention was paid to the Indian Ocean and its floor did not have any instrumentation to monitor any kind of disturbances there.
Supporting his claims, Dr Shetye cited empirical data on the percentage distribution of tsunami's in the world's oceans. With 25.4 per cent, the Pacific Ocean has the highest occurrence of tsunamis, the East Indies has 20.3 per cent, Japan-Russia has 18.6 per cent and in the Bay of Bengal, the percentage is only 0.8.
"It was a low probability but high impact event. With more than 1.5 lakh people killed, this is the biggest killer tsunami in the recorded history of the world," Dr Shetye said
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Source: NT Staff Reporter