Weak TV, radio, landline or mobile phone reception could signal the coming of an earthquake, says top Pune seismologist

Your mobile phone, FM radio or TV could save your life by warning you before an earthquake strikes says Pune-based seismologist Arun Bapat. "Erratic disturbances in your mobile phone, your landline telephone, your FM radio or even TV could signal the coming of an earthquake."

Quake warning
"During earthquakes of moderate to large intensities, the transmission of electromagnetic waves through wired and wireless instruments gets badly affected in an area of 200 to 250 km from the epicenter. Radio frequencies will start shifting three to four days before an earthquake, which will force you to tune it repeatedly," explained Bapat.

Bapat was the head of the Earthquake Engineering Division of the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), a government of India undertaking, and is now a consulting seismologist and researcher to several states.

Bapat explained that cell phones can also warn people of an imminent earthquake. "About 100 to 150 minutes before an earthquake, all cell phones start malfunctioning. In 2001, a massive quake hit Gujarat on Jan 26 at 8.46 am. But in an area of around 250 kms around the epicenter in Bhuj, cell phones of all the people went dead at 6.30 am. Similarly, TVu00a0 reception suffers 10 to 15 hours before a quake. There are audio-visual disturbances and the colours get blurred. Three to four months before a quake, landlines start malfunctioning," Bapat added.