Brussels, 05/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - Research undertaken by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) have revealed evidence of a major earthquake in the remote regions of the Indian subcontinent, thus providing vital reference data for the study of future earthquakes. The results of this study, which should be published on 14 February, are the fruit of work by scientists from the JRC, the United States, France and Germany, who used data provided by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) installed on board the NASA Terra satellite platform to analyse the earthquake that hit on 26 January 2001 in the province of Gujarat, in India, close to the border with Pakistan. The study shows that vast areas around the epicentre have been hit, including regions that could not be visited by survey teams. The scientific knowledge acquired thanks to the study of this earthquake should contribute towards validating seismic models and demonstrate the relationship between the magnitude of an earthquake and how far their impact extends.
Philippe Busquin,, European Commissioner responsible for research, commented: 'This is key information, especially when considering the humanitarian and economic impacts of such disasters'. He underlined that 'advanced space technology has helped to monitor various surface effects of earthquakes accurately and efficiently,' adding that 'the successful collaboration at EU and international level illustrates the benefits that can be expected from co-ordinated approaches such as under the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative.