Sept 7 (NIA) – Over 40,000 people were evacuated in several states along India’s coastal belts on Wednesday, in a massive tsunami drill, the government said.
A monster earthquake of 9.2 magnitude was simulated on Wednesday morning south of Sumatra in Indonesia for the two-day tsunami drill, in which 23 countries are participating.
In Wednesday’s drill, coordinated by UNESCO, Indian authorities practiced evacuating 40,000 people from the coast in less than three hours, the time that a tsunami emerging from the Indonesia region will take to hit India.
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Earth Sciences, The National Disaster Management Authority and the local district administrations of coastal districts had participated in the drill.
In Thursday’s drill, an earthquake of 9 magnitude will be simulated in the Makran Trench, south of Iran and Pakistan, the NDTV reported
India’s west coast, including Mumbai, will be in the path of a tsunami caused by such an earthquake.
“A tsunami is usually triggered by a massive earthquake, landslide or even a volcanic explosion under the sea. The energy released by these geological events travels in the form a wave over long distances, causing massive damage in shallow coastal belts,” NDTV reports said.
Most of India’s 7,500 km coast is at risk and mock drills like these help keep the systems well-oiled to handle real emergencies.
India’s Tsunami Warning Network was established after the devastating 2004 tsunami that killed more than 300,000 people in the Indian Ocean region. It was triggered by a 9.3 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia.
