3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
[S01-P-16] Design and Implementation of the National Seismic Monitoring Network in the Kingdom of Bhutan
Bhutan-Himalayan district is located along the plate collision zone between Indian and Eurasian plates, which is one of the most seismically active region in the world. Recent earthquakes such as M7.8 Nepal earthquake in April 25, 2015 and M6.7 Imphal, India earthquake in January 3, 2016 are examples of felt earthquakes in Bhutan. However, there is no seismic monitoring system ever established in Bhutan, whose territory is in the center of the Bhutan-Himalayan region.
In this project, we are establishing the first national permanent seismic monitoring network in the Kingdom of Bhutan that is utilized for not only for seismic disaster mitigation of the country but also for studying the seismotectonics in the Bhutan-Himalayan region which is not yet precisely revealed due to the lack of observation data in the past.
We started establishing permanent seismic monitoring network of minimum requirements which is composed of six (6) observation stations in Bhutan with short period high sensitivity and strong motion seismometers as well as three (3) broad-band seismometers. Obtained data are transmitted to the central processing computers in the DGM (Department of Geology and Mines, Ministry of Economic Affairs) office in Thimphu. In this project, DGM will construct seismic vault with their own budget which is approved as the World Bank project, and Japan team assists the DGM for site survey of observation site, designing the observation vault, and designing the data telemetry system as well as providing instruments for the observation such as seismometers and digitizers.
We already started the operation of the five (5) stations out of six (6) located in Thimphu, the capital city, and other four (4) stations in Bumthang, Trashigang, Samtse, and Gelephu, and will soon start operation in Samdrup Jongkhar. We also deployed two offline seismic stations with short period seismometers in Gasa (Northern Bhutan) and Wangdu (Central) to assist permanent seismic network.
In this project, we are establishing the first national permanent seismic monitoring network in the Kingdom of Bhutan that is utilized for not only for seismic disaster mitigation of the country but also for studying the seismotectonics in the Bhutan-Himalayan region which is not yet precisely revealed due to the lack of observation data in the past.
We started establishing permanent seismic monitoring network of minimum requirements which is composed of six (6) observation stations in Bhutan with short period high sensitivity and strong motion seismometers as well as three (3) broad-band seismometers. Obtained data are transmitted to the central processing computers in the DGM (Department of Geology and Mines, Ministry of Economic Affairs) office in Thimphu. In this project, DGM will construct seismic vault with their own budget which is approved as the World Bank project, and Japan team assists the DGM for site survey of observation site, designing the observation vault, and designing the data telemetry system as well as providing instruments for the observation such as seismometers and digitizers.
We already started the operation of the five (5) stations out of six (6) located in Thimphu, the capital city, and other four (4) stations in Bumthang, Trashigang, Samtse, and Gelephu, and will soon start operation in Samdrup Jongkhar. We also deployed two offline seismic stations with short period seismometers in Gasa (Northern Bhutan) and Wangdu (Central) to assist permanent seismic network.