Huambo - The director-general of the National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics (INAMET), João Afonso, assured on Monday in Huambo that there are fast seismic alert systems with automated performance.
The official was speaking at a briefing session on "Seismic Occurrences", an initiative of the Huambo provincial government, with the aim of raising awareness and transmitting viable procedures for reducing risks and human damage in the event of this phenomenon, which has a maximum degree of unpredictability.
On the occasion, he said that various pieces of equipment are being installed throughout the country to provide alerts in real time and more quickly, so that the population can reach safe areas in the event of a possible earthquake, at a time when they have already been felt in some regions of the country.
He pointed out that since 2019 the Angolan government has installed warning systems in the provinces of Bengo, Kwanza-Sul, Huíla and Moxico, while the one in Huambo starts operating today, Monday, in the municipality of Caála, with services and technical devices to collect information from the national chain.
He explained that these structures are connected to an INAMET technological infrastructure capable of progressively integrating new stations, whose installation process is already being implemented in the country, with funding from the Angolan government, in partnership with the Technical Institute of Portugal.
He stressed that after the municipality of Caála, in Huambo province, the installation processes will take place in Ganda (Benguela) and Chicuma (Huíla) as part of the technological modernisation and control of earthquakes in the country.
He also said that INAMET is working on the creation of earthquake hazard maps, the process of which will only be consolidated if more historical data related to this unpredictable phenomenon is archived.
In turn, the deputy governor for the Political, Social and Economic sector of Huambo province, Angelino Elavoco, said that it was necessary to create mechanisms and capacities to respond to phenomena that threaten climate change, given the recent seismic tremors felt in this region of the Central Plateau.
He finally praised INAMET's efforts to provide information on seismic tremors in Huambo province, which could help reduce human damage in the event of any phenomena of this nature in the region.
In Huambo province, seismic tremors have already been felt on the Richter scales varying between 5.2 and 5.4.0, levels that can already cause concern and some material damage to structures, especially precarious ones. LT/JSV/ALH/DAN/DOJ
