Tsunami alert system a 'success'

Technology was adapted to provide the seabed monitors

A tsunami alert system has delighted its Hampshire developers by proving itself in its first real test - an earthquake deep in the Bay of Bengal.

Yately-based acoustic technology specialists Sonardyne International created the network of tremor detecting devices for the Indian government.

They are designed to send warnings to shore, averting another crisis like the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004.

An earthquake this week successfully triggered the system's first warning.

Just before midnight on Wednesday the sensors detected changes in water pressure created by an earthquake 24 miles underground near the Nicobar Islands and registering 6.2 on the Richter Scale.

It is a great achievement that the system is in place and providing that level of security to the local population David Brown Sonardyne

An acoustic signal was sent from a depth of 3,500 metres (11,483 ft) to a buoy then automatically relayed a warning to the National Institute of Ocean Technology of India (NIOT) in Chennai.

The monitoring team then assessed whether it was necessary to issue a tsunami warning to the highly populated communities around the coast of India. In this case there was no danger to coastal regions.

David Brown from Sonardyne said: "It is a great achievement that the system is in place and providing that level of security to the local population."

In March the company started installing the seabed transponders, and expects to finish the network of eight devices later this year.

Sonardyne specialises in supplying acoustic positioning, communication and navigation products to the offshore oil and gas industries.