In the presence of the Kyrgyz Minister of Finance, Olga Lavrova, the Kyrgyz Minister of Emergency Situations, Kubatbek Boronov, the Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bolot Otunbaev, and both co-directors of the Central-Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences (CAIAG), Dr. Bolot Moldobekov (CAIAG) and Dr. Jörn Lauterjung (GFZ) the SOSEWIN Network Bishkek officially starts operation today.

The Network SOSEWIN (Self-Organizing Seismic Early Warning Information Network) was established within the framework of the GFZ Global Change Observatory Central Asia in the Kyrgyz capital. The so-called Strong-Motion-Seismometer shall monitor the behavior of buildings experiencing vibrations due to earthquakes and will, thus, be in a position to characterize, in detail, the dynamic properties of the buildings.

In close cooperation with CAIAG as well as with further Kyrgyz partners and with the kind support of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Situations, a total of 60 seismic stations have been installed in seven strategic important public and private buildings. The data registered within each of these buildings is transmitted in real time via internet directly to CAIAG in Bishkek and to the GFZ German Research Centre for Geoscience in Potsdam. In the case of an eventual emergency it will now be possible, to exactly locate city districts hit by stronger tremors and, thus, with this information to provide for an improved and better targeted coordination of emergency forces in future.

In a Letter of Intent, the GFZ Executive Board and the CAIAG co-directors agreed upon the joint usage of the sensor network and the data to further strengthen the future cooperation.