Tropes

ec.europa.eu 2015 000037.txt

#Improved tsunami alert system through international partnerships Tsunamis are not very frequent events, but they can have a terrible impact on human life and on the economy of a country. They occur as a result of earthquakes, usually at the bottom of the sea. But at present such earthquakes cannot be foreseen. Quick responses are therefore vital. sunamis travel very quickly and occur relatively near the shore. It may be only a matter of 15-20 minutes after the earthquake that the wave hits the shore, says José Fernando Esteban of Atos Origin Spain. Early detection can greatly reduce loss of life. nalysis must take no longer than 10 minutes in order to give the authorities enough time to react and take urgent measuresvery minute is crucial, he adds. Esteban led an EU-funded international research project that developed the Distant Early warning system (DEWS) which detects tsunamis as early as possible and allows emergency agencies to improve their responses. DEWS has already been installed in Indonesia and other versions of the system have been developed for use in the Mediterranean region. The system positions sensors at sea and on the coast to pick up earthquakes and to determine the size of the tsunami waves that they are likely to produce and where they will strike on the coastline. DEWS processes this data and provides authorities with all the relevant information needed for making a decision on the type of public warning messages that are required. Outside the European union EU), the project team partners were universities and governmental emergency agencies in New zealand, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri lanka, as well as a leading Japanese agency focusing on geo-science and disaster prevention. The Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG), the meteorological, climatological and geophysical agency of Indonesia, for example, supported the project in the development of guidelines and protocols as well as in the evaluation of test beds. BMKG is in charge of the Indonesian Early warning system and the Organisational Structure for Disaster Management Coordination, as well as the National Earthquake Information Centre in Jakarta. With the support of local staff DEWS was installed successfully at BMKG for evaluation and testing purposes in a closed and secure test environment. The system not only provides faster warning, but it also gives authorities more information than has been available to date. t is up to the authorities whether they decide to give a warning or not. But if they do decide in favour of a warning, the system can send immediate and personalised messages via SMS, email, voice messages over digital radio and Facebook alerts. A wide range of communication means are available so that people can receive relevant and precise instructions, enabling them to react quickly, Esteban explains E

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