By Xinhua,
Yangon : Singapore and Japan have made more proposals to study Myanmar’s earthquake belt in next year to help the country deal with disaster mitigation problem, the Myanmar Newsweek reported Wednesday.
Besides the professors from the Nanyang University of Singapore and the Tokyo University from Japan, those from Chinese Taipei will also come to Myanmar for the move, the Myanmar Earthquake Committee (MEC) was quoted as saying.
Kyaukphyu and Manaung areas in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state will be covered by their studies, the report added.
In March this year, experts from Singapore had proposed to jointly conduct earthquake monitoring with Myanmar in such areas in Rakhine coastal region as Yanbye and Manaung islands, assumed as having the possibility of earthquake occurrence, MEC said, adding that the areas fall in the earthquake zones important for observation according to the past record.
The MEC and Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) have been cooperating in earthquake monitoring since early this year by collecting data from southern sections of the Sagaing fault which is a major sources of earthquakes in southern Myanmar.
Under the project, four continuous Global Positioning System ( GPS) stations are being installed at Taikgyi in Yangon division, Inkalay and Wal in Bago division and Shan Eik Taung in Mon State lying on the country’s main live fault diagonally.
During the year, Myanmar set up a GPS in four cities to monitor earthquake with the help of the EOS. The four cities are known as Kyaikto, Wal, Bago and Taikgyi located on the country’s main live fault diagonally.
In November last year, Japanese paleoseismologist Dr Hiroyuki Tsutsumi and a team of MEC researchers had dug a trench in Kyauktaga, Bago division.
Representing its country’s overseas aid agency, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has also been helping Myanmar establish an early earthquake warning system by setting up seismographic network and record center in the country, according to an earlier report of Myanmar state media.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was also committed to help Myanmar develop an early warning system for Tsunami and other natural disasters by setting up two seismograph stations and two sea-level measurement stations, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology Department.
Moreover, Myanmar is also cooperating with the rest of the world in taking part in the global earthquake model (GEM) foundation program. The project of collecting facts worldwide related with earthquake to produce map was set to finish in 2013.
Representatives of Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines attended the related workshop held in Singapore which was also joined by Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
After the project was finished, every nation can locate the place hit by earthquake, project officials said.
During 2010, three earthquakes measuring 5.4, 6.4 and 5.1 on the Richter scale struck Myanmar’s Monywa and in the Andaman Sea off Myanmar western coast in March and April respectively.