Another step by us to preserve public health
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Like our mHealth services can bridge the gap between doctor and patient, our tsunami notification service can bridge the gap between sesimologists and people in coastal areas.
We all remember Boxing Day 2004. What everyone does not know is that it normally takes 30 – 90 minutes after an earth quake in the Indian Ocean, before the wave hits the shore. In 2004 it took about 30 min to hit A&N Islands, 1 hour 40 min to hit Sri Lanka and 1 hours 30 min to hit Thailand.
In Japan March 2011, it took 30 minutes before it hit the shore. It takes 8 – 12 minutes for a seismologist to send out a notification .
So, when an earth quake occurs of M>6.5 in the Indian Ocean, and if a tsunami is expected, or already confirmed, the seismologists working in the tsunami center will send out an notification to the subscriber’s mobile phone.
Initially, the center will send out an sms notification directing the recipients to view a detailed bulletin on the web for further information. In the near future, location based messages will be sent out, including location based ETA’s (estimated time of arrival), EWA’s (Estimated wave amplitude) and Threat Status.
It will be launched by Airtel on June 7th and you can subscribe for it, as follows;
Customer has to send ‘HEALTH’ as SMS to 54444. He will receive a menu of options to choose from. Customer shall reply with another SMS by selecting and typing 5 (Option No. 5 = MORE). On selecting option 5, customer will be prompted to send keyword “EARTH” to 54444 and he will be subscribed to the notification service.
Imagine if this mobile tsunami notification service had been in place in Japan in March 2011.