An early warning system for earthquakes is planned to be installed in Almaty
Akim of the megalopolis Bakytzhan Sagintayev spoke about measures to prevent the population in case of a devastating earthquake and strengthen educational and healthcare facilities during a live broadcast on the Almaty TV channel.
The system is designed to automatically receive a signal about the approach of a destructive seismic wave to the city and provide early warning to the population, including using the Darmen mobile application. An earthquake signal will be received in an interval of up to 40 seconds.
Almaty is prone to man-made and natural emergencies, such as earthquakes, mudflows, landslides, avalanches, flooding, and fires. More than 1.5 thousand personnel and 270 pieces of equipment are in constant readiness to eliminate the consequences of emergencies. On average, the city's rescuers make more than 3 thousand trips annually.
From 2000 to 2021, overhaul and seismic strengthening of 202 educational facilities, including 145 schools, 51 kindergartens, 6 boarding schools, were carried out. In 2021, it is planned to carry out seismic strengthening of 8 schools, 6 kindergartens, 1 college, 3 healthcare facilities, 2 civil protection facilities.
In order to educate the population and form a culture of safe behavior, develop behavioral skills during an emergency, a simulation training and methodological center is being built, which is an innovative project that has no analogues in the country.
Since 2018, the Institute of Seismology has been working under the program "Comprehensive studies of seismic hazardous regions in the south-east of Kazakhstan and the development of the basis for an early warning system for strong earthquakes.
As part of the implementation of this program, the Institute, based on the Japanese solution, installed 9 seismic stations of the early warning system in test mode. Until 2023, it is planned to install another 28 stations equipped with seismic sensors, autonomous power supplies, as well as control points at the Institute of Seismology and Emergency Situations.