UNESCO Begins Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System

The United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced last week that it has completed the installation of a network of seismometers, buoys, and deep-ocean pressure sensors to monitor earthquake and ocean wave activity in the Indian Ocean. The UNESCO effort is in response to the extensive loss of life following the December 26, 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, which killed over 100,000. The state-of-the-art system transmits data to tsunami warning centers in Japan and Hawaii, which are charged with communicating warnings to 24 countries around the Indian Ocean, with the exception of Yemen, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emerates. However, as reported by Nature, there is no clear plan in place for governments to warn inhabitants along the coastlines, a problem that will be discussed by an intergovernmental group late this summer. For more information, check out the IndoTsunami website on the development of UNESCO Indian Ocean regional tsunami warning and mitigation system.