Special Lecture
Title: 20 Years after the Great 2004 Tsunami
Mon-28 Jul, PM1 14:00 to 15:30


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Harsh K.
GUPTA

CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute

Speaker Biography

Harsh Gupta, INSA Senior Scientist, National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad, India is the President of the Geological Society of India and a Member of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. Formerly, a Member of the National Disaster Management Authority, India; Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Earth Sciences; Director, NGRI; Vice Chancellor, Cochin University of Science and Technology; Professor, University of Texas at Dallas. Former President of IUGG and AOGS. He is globally known for discovering 65-70 km thick crust below Himalaya and Tibet Plateau; developing criteria to discriminate artificial water reservoir triggered earthquakes from normal earthquakes; setting up of India’s first permanent station in Antarctica in a record time of one Antarctic summer; Chairing the Steering Committee of Global Seismic Hazard Program where ~ 500 scientists worked globally to produce Global Seismic hazard Map; setting up of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System after the disastrous 2004 Mw 9.2 Sumatra earthquake; planning and editing Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics 1st Edition in 2011 and Second Edition in 2021published by Springer. Recognitions include S. S. Bhatnagar Award (1983); National Mineral Award for Excellence (2002); Padma Shri (2006); Waldo Smith Award (2008); Axford Medal (2016); National Lifetime Excellence Award by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, India (2022); IASPEI Medal (2023). Prof Gupta is a fellow of Indian Academies; TWAS; AGU; IUGG; Foreign Fellow of Russian Academy of Sciences and Fellow of the International Science Council.


Abstract

Among the natural hazards, Tsunamis are one of the worst. We have just completed the first 24 years of the 21st Century. In these years, two mega tsunamis have occurred. The 26 December 2004 Mw 9.2 Sumatra earthquake and the resultant tsunami claimed ~ 250,000 human lives in south and south- east Asia. India lost close to 15000 lives. Just seven years later, on 11 March 2011, the Mw 9.0 Tohoku earthquake off Japan coast caused a tsunami claiming around 20,000 human lives and causing a nuclear emergency. In this talk, the historic Lisbon 1755 earthquake and the resultant tsunami which claimed ~ 90,000 lives in Lisbon and gave birth to modern science of earthquakes is briefly commented upon, followed by a short narration of setting up of the Indian Tsunami Early Warning System (ITEWS) and its remarkable performance since its inception in 2007. ITEWS takes care of the entire Indian Ocean for providing tsunami advisories to all the Indian Ocean rim-countries. It is now considered among the best in the world.





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