CHENNAI : India is set to become the first country in the world to predict the extent of inundation caused by tsunami waves in real time. For this, a specialised supercomputer is being procured at a cost of Rs 42 crore.The scientists claim this would be a major breakthrough after India’s setting up of the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Sciences, (INCOIS) Hyderabad, an autonomous body under Ministry of Earth Sciences. Right now, ITEWC provides information on the possible height of tsunami waves and the time it would hit the coast. After upgradation, it can gauge the extent and level of inundation.
M Rajeevan Nair, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, said the proposal to upgrade ITEWC was in its final stages and would be beneficial for Indian Ocean rim countries along with Australia and Indonesia. ITEWC had successfully detected 8.6 magnitude earthquake off the western coast of Aceh, northern Sumatra and accurately analysed that it would not generate tsunami waves, while other basins issued tsunami warning triggering panic.