Warning systems set up across Asia after tsunami disaster<\/p>\n
Griffin Shea
\nAgence France Presse\/Ton Sai, Thailand<\/p>\n
Two tsunami warning towers now dot the skyline in the idyllic
\nvacation village of Ton Sai on Thailand's Phi Phi island -- a
\nwelcome sight, according to 35-year-old shopowner Fatima
\nThamnakla.<\/p>\n
\"If it happens again, it will be better than last time,\" she
\ntells AFP, pointing out the towers on the tourist beach and near
\nthe village mosque.<\/p>\n
But she adds matter-of-factly: \"We won't know how well the
\nwarning system works until it happens again.\"<\/p>\n
When giant waves unleashed by a violent under-sea earthquake
\ncrashed onto the shores of 11 Indian Ocean countries last year,
\nmany governments had no way to warn the public of the imminent
\ndanger, leading to the massive death toll of around 217,000.<\/p>\n
Forewarned, many of the victims could have fled to the safety
\nof higher ground when the three-metre-high waves swept inland.
\nFrom Indonesia to India, those countries blindsided by the
\ntsunami have since launched efforts to avert a repeat, setting up
\nwarning systems, improving cross-border coordination and
\nincreasing community awareness.<\/p>\n
The national emergency plans being put in place are meant to
\nsupplement international efforts led by the United Nations to set
\nup a regional early warning system similar to that already used
\nin the Pacific.<\/p>\n
Top scientists and government officials from over 25 nations
\nhave been meeting this week in Hyderabad, India, to discuss
\nprogress on the regional system which it is hoped will be
\nimplemented next year.<\/p>\n
Individual countries, meanwhile, have been busy making their
\nown plans.<\/p>\n
In mid-November, Indonesia set in motion the initial phase of
\nits early warning system, activating two sets of moored surface
\nbuoys off western Sumatra to pick up and transmit data about sea
\ntremors from ocean floor sensors.<\/p>\n
The instruments were the first of a total of 15 sets, along
\nwith more than 100 seismographs, due to be installed along the
\ncoast of the vast archipelago -- the country hardest hit by the
\nDec. 26, 2004 tragedy.<\/p>\n
Information will be conveyed via satellite to a monitoring
\nstation in West Sumatra province, from which it will be relayed
\nto the public via mobile text message, e-mail, fax and telephone.<\/p>\n
\"The more instruments we have, the better it will be,\" Edi
\nPrihantoro, an official at the Indonesian research and technology
\nministry, said last month.<\/p>\n
Thailand set up the National Disaster Warning Center in May
\n2005 to deal with both the aftermath of the tsunami and to ward
\noff future catastrophes, and the country's early warning system
\nwill soon be in place.<\/p>\n
The government is due to install warning towers in Phuket by
\nyear's end, with another 32 towers scheduled to be set up along
\nthe country's Andaman coast by March.<\/p>\n
\"I think in terms of preparedness, Thailand is doing extremely
\nwell,\" says Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the World Health
\nOrganization's deputy regional director for Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
\"In fact, they have the best preparedness plan already. Other
\ncountries are also following Thailand's example.\"<\/p>\n
India's federal cabinet in October approved plans to set up a
\nnational tsunami alert system in the southern city of Hyderabad,
\nbut it is not expected to be fully operational for another two
\nyears.<\/p>\n
In Sri Lanka, where 31,000 people were killed, the government
\nintroduced legislation this year to help manage future disasters,
\nbut no warning system has been instituted.<\/p>\n
\"We had bipartisan support to implement this. We were
\nunprepared for the tsunami and now we have identified what has to
\nbe done to mitigate the effects of a disaster,\" says opposition
\nlawmaker Mahinda Samarasinghe.<\/p>\n
Beyond the installation of high-tech sensors, Indian Ocean
\ncountries are focusing on community awareness -- a key component
\nof any emergency strategy, as many people simply did not
\nunderstand the danger posed by the tsunami.<\/p>\n
\"Community education programs are also critical, not just for
\nthe next tsunami but for a variety of hazards,\" says Eric P.
\nSchwartz, UN deputy special envoy for tsunami recovery.<\/p>\n
\"It's not just about putting buoys in the water. It's more
\ncritical to have a community that can recognize the warning signs
\nand react.\"<\/p>\n
False alarms are another concern. On March 29, after another
\nunderwater earthquake off Indonesia, the Indian government warned
\npeople in its southern coastal areas that a tsunami might hit
\nagain, causing widespread panic.<\/p>\n
In Ton Sai, Fatima says she is pleased with her government's
\nefforts, but also noted that she was no longer afraid of the
\nkiller waves.<\/p>\n
\"It won't happen again for a long time. My old relatives say
\nthey had seen a tsunami before, but it wasn't nearly as big as
\nthis one. Last time it was just like a flash of water in the
\nvillage -- there wasn't much damage,\" she says.<\/p>\n
But some expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of
\nwarning systems, like 31-year-old Erna Wati, a mother of four
\nliving in the Indonesian village of Gado, in devastated Aceh
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
\"We heard from the newspaper that a warning system is coming,
\nbut we've only so far heard warnings from fortune tellers -- and
\nwe don't believe them,\" she says.<\/p>\n
burs-sst\/nw
\nAsia-quake-1year-preparations
\nAFP<\/p>\n
GetAFP 2.10 -- DEC 15, 2005 10:16:22<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/warning-systems-set-up-across-asia-after-tsunami-disaster-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }