Wednesday, March 16 2005 11:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Andaman Islands witnessed 6,500 aftershocks in the aftermath of the devastating quakes and killer waves, which exhibit a trend of continuous release of stress energy, a team from the Geological Survey of India has found out.

They carried out detailed scientific studies including macro-seismic survey, Global Positioning System (GPS) survey for constraining ground deformation, study of aftershocks with five digital seismographs deployed in the Islands at Port Blair, Carnic (Car Nicobar), Hut Bay (Little Andaman), Rangat (Middle Andaman) and Diglipur (North Andaman).

Nearly 6,500 aftershocks were recorded by GSI, which show a trend of continuous release of stress energy, according to an official release in New Delhi yesterday (Mar 15, 2005).

Geoscientists studied the effects of tsunami in the coastal tract of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They undertook Bathymetry and magnetic surveys out in the sea around Andaman and Nicobar Islands to study the submarine geo-morphological changes.

The Geological Survey of Japan has also requested GSI for a collaborative project to study the details of the tsunami in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The Earth Science Sector, Natural Resources of Canada has proposed a collaborative programme between India and Canada on overall disaster mitigation efforts, which include tsunamis.