ASIA

Published: March 9, 2005

STEPS TO A TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM

Officials in charge of the existing international tsunami warning system have a schedule for extending it to the Indian Ocean. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, a United Nations agency based in Paris, also said it had made progress in providing an alert network for the Caribbean region, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Beginning next month, Indian Ocean countries will receive seismic data from earthquake monitoring stations in Japan and Hawaii. They will then install tide gauges at 6 sites in the eastern ocean and upgrade 15 others to create a rudimentary alert system to be operative by the fall. A final, more sophisticated system that will be in place by the end of 2006 will include a regional warning system and seabed sensors. John Tagliabue (NYT)