31-03-2017, 04:31 PM
A tsunami warning system (TWS) is used to detect tsunamis in advance and issue warnings to prevent loss of life and damage. It consists of two equally important components: a network of sensors to detect tsunamis and a communications infrastructure to emit timely alarms to allow evacuation of coastal areas. There are two different types of tsunami warning systems: international and regional. When operating, seismic alerts are used to instigate clocks and warnings; Data from the observed sea level height (either ground tide or DART buoys) are then used to verify the existence of a tsunami. Other systems have been proposed to increase warning procedures; For example, it has been suggested that the duration and frequency content of the t-wave energy (which is the seismic energy trapped in the ocean's SOFAR channel) is indicative of the earthquake tsunami potential.
International alert systems
1. Pacific Ocean
Tsunami warnings for most of the Pacific Ocean are issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), operated by the United States NOAA in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. The NOAA's National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) in Palmer, Alaska issues warnings for the west coast of North America, including Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon and California. The PTWC was established in 1949, after the 1946 Aleutian island earthquake and a tsunami that resulted in 165 casualties in Hawaii and Alaska; NTWC was founded in 1967. International coordination is achieved through the International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific, established by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.
2. Indian Ocean (ICG / IOTWS)
Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed almost 250,000 people, a United Nations conference was held in Kobe, Japan in January 2005 and decided that as a first step towards an International Early Warning Program, the UN should To establish a Tsunami Warning System in the Indian Ocean. This resulted in a system of warnings in Indonesia and other affected areas.
3.The northeastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas (ICG / NEAMTWS
The First United Nations Meeting of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Early Warning and Tsunami Mitigation System in the North-East Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas (ICG / NEAMTWS), established by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UNESCO 23rd Session June 2005, through Resolution XXIII.14, was held in Rome on 21 and 22 November 2005.
The meeting, organized by the Government of Italy (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy and Ministry of the Environment and Protection of the Territory and Sea) was attended by more than 150 participants from 24 countries, 13 organizations and numerous observers.
4. Caribbean
A tsunami alert system throughout the Caribbean was planned for 2010 by representatives of Caribbean nations that met in Panama City in March 2008. The last major tsunami in Panama killed 4,500 people in 1882. Barbados has said it will review or test its tsunami protocol in February 2010 as a regional pilot.