Japan to launch earthquake warning system

Japan readies earthquake warning system.

8 Nov, 2005: Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas on earth, is to launch an earthquake warning system in 2006. The success of a test version of the earthquake warning system in operation at the northern prefecture of Miyagi in Japan has urged the nation to move along with the launch. The test warning system, operating from the month of February, was able to warn of a 7.2 quake, 15 seconds in advance on August 16. 

Sensors, highly sensitive, detect and analyse early quake waves that will help in predicting any more destructive movements and automatically issue warnings. Though the span between the warning and the quake is much less, the Japanese Meteorological Agency hopes that there will be enough time to switch off gas stoves and find safer places under a table or so. Trains could also be alerted for an instant halt. 

In the initial stages, the earthquake warnings may go to train and gas stations, but work is on in developing the quake warning system to benefit the common public at their households. Though well-set for a launch, Japan's disaster management agencies have their own fears on the accuracy and speed of the quake predictions. They hold that there are chances of having slight differences between the predictions and the actual hit.

The Japanese, who have seen one of their deadliest quakes, a 7.3 on the Richter scale, in 1995, killing more than 6,400 and had a 6.8 tremor killing about 40 people and injuring thousands, is definitely not taking the launch launch of its earthquake warning system lightly.