Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System
Encyclopedia
The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System is a tsunami warning system
set up to provide warning to inhabitants of nations bordering the Indian Ocean
of approaching tsunami
s. It was agreed to in a United Nations
conference held in January 2005 in Kobe
, Japan
as an initial step towards an International Early Warning Programme
. Nanometrics (Ottawa, Canada) and RESULTS Marine Division (Chennai, India) delivered and successfully installed 17 Seismic VSAT stations with 2 Central Recording Station to provide the seismic event alert to the scientists through SMS and E-mail automatically within 2 min.
The system became active in late June 2006 following the leadership of UNESCO
. It consists of 25 seismographic stations relaying information to 26 national tsunami information centers, as well as three deep-ocean sensors. However, UNESCO warned that further coordination between governments and methods of relaying information from the centers to the civilians at risk are required to make the system effective.
Its creation was prompted by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
and resulting tsunami, which left some 230,000 people dead or missing. Many analysts claimed that the disaster would have been mitigated if there had been an effective warning system in place, citing the well-established Hawaii
-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
, which operates in the Pacific Ocean
.
People in some areas would have had more than adequate time to seek safety if they were aware of the impending catastrophe. The only way to effectively mitigate the impact of a tsunami is through an early warning system.Other methods such as sea walls only work for a percentage of waves, but a warning system is effective for all waves originating outside a minimum distance from the coastline.
In the immediate aftermath of the July 2006 Java earthquake
, the Indonesian government received tsunami warnings from the Hawaii center and the Japan Meteorological Agency
but failed to relay the alert to its citizens. At least 23,000 people did evacuate the coast after the quake, either fearing a tsunami or because their homes had been destroyed.
It has been suggested that in Muslim
-dominated coastal areas, the loudspeakers fitted to mosque
s could be used to broadcast warnings.
Tsunami warning system
A Tsunami warning system is used to detect tsunamis in advance and issue warnings to prevent loss of life and damage. It consists of two equally important components: a network of sensors to detect tsunamis and a communications infrastructure to issue timely alarms to permit evacuation of coastal...
set up to provide warning to inhabitants of nations bordering the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
of approaching tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
s. It was agreed to in a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
conference held in January 2005 in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as an initial step towards an International Early Warning Programme
International Early Warning Programme
The International Early Warning Programme , was first proposed at the Second International Early Warning Conference in 2003 in Bonn, Germany...
. Nanometrics (Ottawa, Canada) and RESULTS Marine Division (Chennai, India) delivered and successfully installed 17 Seismic VSAT stations with 2 Central Recording Station to provide the seismic event alert to the scientists through SMS and E-mail automatically within 2 min.
The system became active in late June 2006 following the leadership of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. It consists of 25 seismographic stations relaying information to 26 national tsunami information centers, as well as three deep-ocean sensors. However, UNESCO warned that further coordination between governments and methods of relaying information from the centers to the civilians at risk are required to make the system effective.
Its creation was prompted by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
and resulting tsunami, which left some 230,000 people dead or missing. Many analysts claimed that the disaster would have been mitigated if there had been an effective warning system in place, citing the well-established Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is one of two tsunami warning centers that are operated by NOAA in the United States. Headquartered in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, the PTWC is part of an international tsunami warning system program and serves as the operational center for TWS of the Pacific issuing...
, which operates in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
People in some areas would have had more than adequate time to seek safety if they were aware of the impending catastrophe. The only way to effectively mitigate the impact of a tsunami is through an early warning system.Other methods such as sea walls only work for a percentage of waves, but a warning system is effective for all waves originating outside a minimum distance from the coastline.
In the immediate aftermath of the July 2006 Java earthquake
July 2006 Java earthquake
The July 2006 Java earthquake was a magnitude 7.7 earthquake off the southwestern coast of Java, Indonesia. It occurred on July 17, 2006, at 08:24 UTC ....
, the Indonesian government received tsunami warnings from the Hawaii center and the Japan Meteorological Agency
Japan Meteorological Agency
The or JMA, is the Japanese government's weather service. Charged with gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Japan, it is a semi-autonomous part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport...
but failed to relay the alert to its citizens. At least 23,000 people did evacuate the coast after the quake, either fearing a tsunami or because their homes had been destroyed.
It has been suggested that in Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
-dominated coastal areas, the loudspeakers fitted to mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s could be used to broadcast warnings.
Mobile SMS based warning systems
- Integrated Tsunami Watcher Service a 24x7 free sms based warning system run by volunteer for not-profit and securing all lives.