Tsunami Warning System Up and Running

SEWilco writes "UNESCO has announced that their Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System is up and running as scheduled. From the article: 'Twenty-six out of a possible 28 national tsunami information centers, capable of receiving and distributing tsunami advisories around the clock have been set up in Indian Ocean countries. The seismographic network has been improved, with 25 new stations being deployed and linked in real-time to analysis centers. There are also three Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) sensors. The Commission for the Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is also contributing data from seismographic stations."

Comments

Great - but local challenges

[WinEveryGame]

While this is a welcome achievement, a key challenge is to get the local processes in place to effectively utilize the early warning. Unfortunately some of the most vulnerable spots are far-flung areas with lack of resources and processes to handle effective evacuations etc.

Re:Great - but local challenges

[Selanit]

... a key challenge is to get the local processes in place to effectively utilize the early warning. Unfortunately some of the most vulnerable spots are far-flung areas with lack of resources and processes to handle effective evacuations etc.

I guarantee you that the people who are working on this system are aware of this and thinking about ways to address it. Broadly, there are two things that need to be done: advance prep, and getting the warning out.

Advance prep means:

1. Identify local leaders in each settlement. (Depends on size - mayor? elders? local police/firemen/etc?)
2. Get the local leaders to identify a rendezvous point, namely the local high ground. The monitoring stations should also keep a list of designated rendezvous points for each settlement.
3. Put a cache of emergency supplies at the rendezvous point, eg water, first-aid supplies, blankets. These can either be supplied locally or through aid organizations. Obviously this will have to be secured somehow - unsecured caches might get stolen. Preferably, entrust this to somebody who lives at the rendezvous point (or close to it) and make sure it's more profitable for them to keep the cache intact than sell it themselves. It'd be a good idea to check the cache periodically (refresh the water, replace old medical supplies, etc).
4. Announce the rendezvous point in advance - tell people where to go BEFORE it's a crisis. The local leaders should be involved in figuring out the best way to do this for their area - could range from walking around knocking on doors to a mail campaign, posters, requiring teachers to tell their students, whatever works locally. This should be repeated periodically. Actual drills may or may not be feasible, depending on the location.
5. Make sure each area has some way of getting the warning and passing it on. See next section.

One problem with this is that there may not BE a local spot suitable for a rendezvous. If you live on an atoll where the highest land is 2 meters above sea level, there's no high ground. In this case, it might be necessary to build something. Perhaps Engineers without Borders can build a bunker. Or maybe a completely alternate plan will have to be developed. It'll depend on the exact local circumstances.

When the tsunami is detected, it'll be a matter of issuing warnings to as many people as possible as fast as possible, with specific recommendations. For maximum effect, they'll need to use every channel of communication possible.

1. Radio. Radios are cheap, and radio stations can reach large areas fast, especially AM stations with high-powered transmitters. Shortwave has even better range, but comparatively few people listen to it or have a shortwave-capable radio. So the monitoring centers should maintain a list of radio stations that broadcast in coastal areas, with current contact information, so that they can contact them directly. One phone call to a radio station can reach thousands or even millions of listeners. In remote areas, it'd be a good idea to distribute radios, or possibly sell them cheap. Emergency models with built-in solar panels and hand cranks would be good for undeveloped regions.
2. Television. Any television stations in the affected areas can be just as powerful at getting warnings out as the radio, so they should be notified immediately as well.
3. Government. This particularly applies to heavily populated areas - the local authorities can get the word out and hopefully also help people get going.
4. Web pages. Passing the word to popular web pages for the local area (eg newspapers, etc) is another way. This is probably less effective than any of the previous methods since it depends on people looking at it at the right time. But if it gets the warning to even a few more people, it's probably worth it.

Lastly, there needs to be a message with specific recommendations. Namely:

It's not a bad thing

[celardore]

While I feel that this system is generally useful and productive, how often do tsunamis happen? I wonder if this "early warning system" will even be used in the next 50 years.

Re:It's not a bad thing

[joe 155]

well according to wikipedia there have been at least 6 fairly big tsunami's since the 60's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami). Although the boxing-day one was the biggest in recent memory thousands of lives could be saved in the next 50 years even if (which we hope) no other big tsunamis happen

Re:It's not a bad thing

[LiftOp]

Any opportunity to link these kinds of data systems is a good thing. Seismic data is most useful when combined with as many data points as possible. Tsunamis aside, the long-term benefits of these networks from an earthquake prediction standpoint will be enormous.

Good news!

[Manip]

Before the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, American researchers actually knew it was coming but didn't have a way to worn the people in its path. They literally in the same position you or I would be in if we too knew it was going to happen.

Who would you phone, in a couple of minutes? The embassies?
That is about as effective as standing out on the front lawn and yellowing "There's a tsunami coming!"

So as I said, this is great news. It will allow international researchers to warn places of the impending wave, and helpfully save a few lives.

Won't help the people in India much.

[hopethisnickisnottak]

The biggest problem with my country, India, is that an early warning system won't make much of a difference because there is no way to inform most of the thousands of villages and settlements on the coastlines. In face of this, even a warning hours in advance won't make a significant difference.

At the same time, regardless of these problems, an early warning system like this will save *some* lives, and any life saved is precious!

UN

[kisak]

Great work by UNESCO. Another example why the UN has become such a vital organisation after WWII.

Re:UN

[FooGoo]

I am all for the UN doing this type of work as protecting human rights, solving political problems, or preventing genocide is not their forte.

Re:UN

[JahToasted]

Solving political problems or preventing genocide doesn't seem to be anyone's forte. The UN attempts to do these things anyway with varying degrees of success. You don't hear about the times they succeed because negotiating treaties and keeping things peaceful don't get as much attention as several million people being massacred (and even that doesn't get much attention anymore). Are you saying they shouldn't attempt anything that has a significant chance of failure?

Re:A peace of war.

[brunokummel]

Well, I'm pretty sure I could write pages and pages listing the good things the cold war brought to the world, but i guess nobody would take the time to read them so im gonna list just a few: Communication sattelites, anti-flame clothing, orthodontic appliances, arterial measuring devices, Heart's pacemaker, smoke detectors, better airplanes engines, GPS, weather forecast, not to mention our good old internet...

Cheaper system...

[Airconditioning]

Put tracking devices in various animals in the area. Dogs, goats, sloths... whatever. If they all inexplicably go berzerk and start heading for the hills, follow them.

Seriously, it was well reported that the local wildlife at the locations where the Tsunami hit were safe in the hills away from the disaster. What were they sensing?