Tsunami-ravaged nations meet on warning system<\/p>\n
Joseph Coleman, Associated Press\/Phuket, Thailand<\/p>\n
Indonesia lacks tsunami-detecting tide gauges, and one of Sri
\nLanka's two earthquake monitoring stations is hobbled by software
\ntroubles. Thailand needs to upgrade communications to warn
\ntourists of danger.<\/p>\n
Government ministers from tsunami-ravaged Asian nations are
\nmeeting on the badly damaged resort island of Phuket on Friday
\nand Saturday, assessing such needs as they plan for a proposed
\ntsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n
The meeting, at a hotel just yards (meters) from a coast hit
\nby the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster, follows a broad endorsement of a
\nwarning system by a UN conference in Japan last week. Several
\nnations, including the United States and Germany, have drawn up
\nplans for how to set the network up.<\/p>\n
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in Phuket ahead of the
\nmeeting, said on Thursday that his country would offer US$10
\nmillion toward the international warning system. Other countries
\nhave pledged at least US$8 million to the effort.<\/p>\n
The Pacific Ocean is already covered by a U.S.-based warning
\nsystem, extending protection to 26 countries. But the Indian
\nOcean region has no such safeguard, and experts say a warning
\nnetwork could have saved countless lives in last month's
\ncatastrophe.<\/p>\n
The task will not be easy.<\/p>\n
Southern Asian nations have some monitoring equipment for
\nearthquakes and other natural phenomena, but officials say it
\nneeds to be expanded to tsunami detection. Bangladesh, for
\nexample, has a cyclone forecasting system. India has access to
\ninformation from floating ocean monitors, under an international
\nenvironmental program.<\/p>\n
But with some of that equipment either outdated or in
\ndisrepair, officials are trying to figure out what additional
\nhardware is needed: for example, more seismic stations to quickly
\nregister the magnitude of underwater quakes, more ocean monitors
\nto alert officials that a tsunami is coming, and updated
\ncommunications to get the warnings to coastal residents.<\/p>\n
Then, the national warning systems have to be melded into a
\nregional network. Experts also say much work remains to be done
\nto assess the vulnerability of individual towns to tsunamis,
\nbuild seawalls and breakwaters, establish evacuation routes and
\neducate residents about what to do in an emergency.<\/p>\n
\"The weakest links are not the technical instruments ... it is
\nthe organization that assesses risk, delivers the message and
\ntakes action,\" Patricio Bernal, executive secretary of the UN's
\nIntergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, said at last week's
\nmeeting in Japan.<\/p>\n
The United Nations has pushed for quick action while the
\nworld's attention is focused on the disaster, which killed more
\nthan 140,000 people across 11 nations. The UN Educational,
\nScientific and Cultural Organization has proposed a warning
\nsystem for the Indian Ocean that would cost US$30 million and be
\nrunning in a year.<\/p>\n
Ministers from dozens of countries and UN agencies are
\nparticipating in this weekend's meetings. Some were scheduled to
\ntake an hours-long tour of the areas savaged by the tsunami,
\nwhich killed more than 5,300 people in Thailand, many of them
\nforeign tourists. On Saturday, UN agencies are to brief ministers
\non early warning systems.<\/p>\n
The Phuket meeting is one of a string of gatherings focused on
\nthe tsunami. Earlier this week, experts and officials met in
\nBeijing, China. On Tuesday, delegates from hard-hit Indonesia
\ncalled for creation of a network of earthquake detectors linked
\nto the Global Positioning System, a satellite system run by the
\nU.S. Defense Department that is widely used for commercial
\nnavigation.<\/p>\n
The receivers would complement wave sensors mounted on ocean
\nbuoys to help experts predict when and where a tsunami is likely
\nto strike.<\/p>",
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