The National Academy of Science and Technology (Nast) has installed earthquake early warning sensors at 10 locations in Dhading, Kavre and Kathmandu districts that would alert people as much as 22 seconds before a major earthquake.

Nepal has become the fourth country in the world after Mexico, Japan and China to have an early warning system, said Nast Vice-chancellor Jibaraj Pokharel.

After the major earthquake on April 25 and its aftershocks, the Nast, under

the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, agreed to install 120 early warning sensors covering one-third of the country with support from the Institute of Care-Life in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province.

According to Pokharel, the 10 sensors are installed and connected with an early warning centre set up on the Nast premises that would provide advance warnings 10 to 22 seconds before an earthquake depending on the distance from the epicentre.

If the epicentre of the quake is farther, the people living in the area having the early warning system will have at least 22 seconds to react while those near the epicentre will get advance warning at least 10 seconds before a moderate to major earthquake.

A real-time system will provide warnings seconds after the primary seismic wave resulting from an earthquake generated from the sensor and transmitted through radio waves that travel faster than seismic waves through ground to the central warning station placed on the Nast premises in Khumaltar. A central early warning centre has already been installed at Nast.

“Even a few extra seconds mean a lot during an earthquake and can save lives if responded properly,” said Pokharel. Nast plans to install a total of 120 sensors throughout the country in the next few months under the first phase and later install additional 120 sensors in the second phase.

The system installed on the Nast premises with sensors in different earthquake-affected districts is similar to that used in Sichuan province since 2013, after the magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck the country in 2008 killing around 70,000 people.

According to a China Daily report, Wang, a postdoctoral fellow of theoretical physics at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, set up the Institute of Care-Life in Chengdu to conduct research into early warning system. The system has been installed in all the Chinese provinces.