Early warning system for PNG

Early warning system for PNG

CANBERRA (AP): A network of seismological beacons will be
installed along Papua New Guinea's north coast as an early
warning device against future tsunamis, the Australian government
said yesterday.

Australian scientists will travel to Papua New Guinea today to
begin work with an international team of seismologists trying to
understand the cause of the disaster, Resources Minister Warwick
Parer said.

"The seismologists will be assisting the Papua New Guinea
Geological Survey to install a network of seismographs at Wewak,
Aitape, Vanimo and at Nuku, south of Aitape," Parer said.

"These will be used to locate aftershocks which will highlight
the source region of the magnitude 7 earthquake that triggered
the destructive tsunami."

A tsunami believed to have been caused by an offshore
earthquake struck the northwest coast of Papua New Guinea on July
17, destroying villages, killing 2,000 people and leaving
thousands more homeless.