THE country will be in a better position to access early warning predictions of volcanic activities with the help of five new seismometers to be installed soon.
Director of Meteorological Services, David Hiriasia said, the project of installing the machines and equipment will be funded by the World Bank.
Mr Hiriasia however, could not disclose at this stage how much the project would cost.
“Currently the country relays on one seismometer reading of volcanic activities located on the volcanic island of Savo, Central Islands Province.”
Mr Hiriasia said, under the project in the pipeline five seismometers will be installed in five different provinces.
“The provinces selected are Isabel, Renbel, Temotu, Makira Ulawa and Malaita respectively.”
He said, once the five seismometers are put in place, it will make networking easier for meteorological service enabling the service to disseminate information about earthquake movements to the public within a shorter time.
He said, the importance of the development is that it will allow the meteorological service to give out life saving information warnings to the public with regards to hazards and dangers triggered by earthquakes such as tsunami or volcano eruptions.
He said, relying on one seismometer for the whole country as the case is now is not enough especially in Solomon Islands where the country is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
By BIRIAU WILSON SAENI
