Mines Bureau wants four short period network systems to monitor tremors

Lakshmi DE SILVA

The Geological and Mines Bureau has requested the External Resources Department and donor agencies like JICA and the Russian government to install four short period network systems to monitor local earth tremors like Wednesday's since the monitor at Pallekele was a Broad Band station to monitor the whole region, Director Dr. Kithsiri Dissanayaka said yesterday. Though there were four short period networks installed in four universities in 2004 funded by JICA, they were not in proper working condition. "They were installed at Rajarata, Peradeniya, Ruhuna and the Eastern universities but we need at least four short period networks to monitor local earth tremors," he said.

"At least Rs. 110 million is needed to instal such networks and if we get the funds we could instal them in two to three weeks," Dr. Dissanayaka said.

"Though the Pallekele station had recorded the tremor as less than four on the Richter scale, if we had the short period networks we could have monitored the local tremors more accurately," he said.

"It was like measuring a 10 milimetre with a footruler when we monitor it with the broad brand station," he noted. A Disaster Management Center officer told the Daily News that they have conducted training sessions for facing floods, tsunami and hurricanes in schools and in Divisional Secretariat areas prone to such disasters. "But phenomena like earth tremors were unpredictable and the only thing the people could do was to go out of buildings at such times and bend down with their hands held on their heads."