Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System

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The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System was set up to provide warning to inhabitants of nations bordering the Indian Ocean of approaching tsunamis. The tsunami warning system has been in use since the mid-2000s.

Contents

Background

A warning system for the Indian Ocean was prompted by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and resulting tsunami, which left approximately 250,000 people dead or missing. Many analysts claimed that the disaster would have been mitigated if there had been an effective warning system in place, citing the well-established Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which operates in the Pacific Ocean.

People in some areas would have had more than adequate time to seek safety if they were aware of the impending catastrophe. The only way to effectively mitigate the impact of a tsunami is through an early warning system. Other methods such as sea walls only work for a percentage of waves, but a warning system is effective for all waves originating outside a minimum distance from the coastline.

Construction

The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System was agreed to in a United Nations conference held in January 2005 in Kobe, Japan as an initial step towards an International Early Warning Programme. Nanometrlolics (Ottawa, Canada) and RESULTS Marine Private Limited, India, delivered and successfully installed 17 Seismic VSAT stations with two Central Recording Station to provide the seismic event alert to the scientists through SMS and e-mail automatically within two minutes.

The system became active in late June 2006 following the leadership of UNESCO. It consists of 25 seismographic stations relaying information to 26 national tsunami information centers, as well as six Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoys. [1] However, UNESCO warned that further coordination between governments and methods of relaying information from the centers to the civilians at risk are required to make the system effective. [2]

Sensor data is processed by the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and the Japan Meteorological Agency, and alerts are forwarded to threatened countries and also made available to the general public. National governments warn citizens through a variety of means, including Cell Broadcast messages, SMS messages, radio and television broadcasts, sirens from dedicated platforms and mosque loudspeakers, and police vehicles with loudspeakers. [3]

Performance during emergencies

The system was not yet operational during the 2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami. The Indonesian government did receive tsunami warnings from the warning centers but did not have a system to relay the alert to its citizens. At least 23,000 people did evacuate the coast after the quake, either fearing a tsunami or because their homes had been destroyed. Waves as high as 7.39 m (24.2 ft) still resulted in about 700 fatalities and 9,000 injuries.

In the 2012 Indian Ocean sequence, the system alerted the Indian islands on Andaman and Nicobar within eight minutes. [4] Some tsunami warning sirens in Aceh were delayed by about 20 minutes due to failure of the electrical grid caused by the proximity of the earthquake, and evacuation routes in Banda Aceh were jammed with traffic. [3]

Of the 28 countries that ring the Indian Ocean, now Australia, Indonesia and India are responsible for spearheading tsunami warnings in the area. [5]

The system had no means to predict tsunamis from volcanic eruptions. After the 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami, the Indonesian government installed sea level sensors to fill this gap. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsunami</span> Series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water

A tsunami is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. Unlike normal ocean waves, which are generated by wind, or tides, which are in turn generated by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun, a tsunami is generated by the displacement of water from a large event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami</span> Earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Indian Ocean

On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 Mw struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity up to IX in some areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsunami warning system</span> System used to detect and warn the public about impending tsunamis

A tsunami warning system (TWS) is used to detect tsunamis in advance and issue the warnings to prevent loss of life and damage to property. It is made up of two equally important components: a network of sensors to detect tsunamis and a communications infrastructure to issue timely alarms to permit evacuation of the coastal areas. There are two distinct types of tsunami warning systems: international and regional. When operating, seismic alerts are used to instigate the watches and warnings; then, data from observed sea level height are used to verify the existence of a tsunami. Other systems have been proposed to augment the warning procedures; for example, it has been suggested that the duration and frequency content of t-wave energy is indicative of an earthquake's tsunami potential.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Tsunami Warning Center</span> One of two tsunami warning centers that are operated by NOAA, located on Ford Island, Hawaii

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), located on Ford Island, Hawaii, is one of two tsunami warning centers in the United States, covering Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, as well as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea. Other parts of the United States are covered by the National Tsunami Warning Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency population warning</span> Warning issued by authorities to the public en masse

An emergency population warning is a method where by local, regional, or national authorities can contact members of the public to warn them of an impending emergency. These warnings may be necessary for a number of reasons, including:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake</span> 2005 earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia

The 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake occurred on 28 March off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. At least 915 people were killed, mostly on the island of Nias. The event caused panic in the region, which had already been devastated by the massive tsunami triggered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, but this earthquake generated a relatively small tsunami that caused limited damage. It was the third most powerful earthquake since 1965 in Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami</span> Destructive tsunami earthquake south of Java Island

An earthquake occurred on July 17, 2006 at 15:19:27 local time along a subduction zone off the coast of west and central Java, a large and densely populated island in the Indonesian archipelago. The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.7 and a maximum perceived intensity of IV (Light) in Jakarta, the capital and largest city of Indonesia. There were no direct effects of the earthquake's shaking due to its low intensity, and the large loss of life from the event was due to the resulting tsunami, which inundated a 300 km (190 mi) portion of the Java coast that had been unaffected by the earlier 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that was off the coast of Sumatra. The July 2006 earthquake was also centered in the Indian Ocean, 180 kilometers (110 mi) from the coast of Java, and had a duration of more than three minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earthquake warning system</span> Alert system for in-progress earthquakes

An earthquake warning system or earthquake alarm system is a system of accelerometers, seismometers, communication, computers, and alarms that is devised for notifying adjoining regions of a substantial earthquake while it is in progress. This is not the same as earthquake prediction, which is currently not capable of producing decisive event warnings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes</span> Earthquakes affecting Indonesia

The September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes were a series of megathrust earthquakes that struck the Sunda Trench off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, with three of magnitude 7 or greater. A series of tsunami bulletins was issued for the area. The most powerful of the series had a magnitude of 8.5, which makes it in the top 20 of the largest earthquakes ever recorded on a seismograph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J-Alert</span> Japanese disaster alert system

J-Alert is the early warning system used in Japan. J-Alert was launched in February 2007. The system is designed to quickly inform the public of threats and emergencies such as earthquakes, severe weather, and other dangers. The system was developed in the hope that early warnings would speed up evacuation times and help coordinate emergency response.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teletsunami</span> Massive tsunamis that strike a thousand kilometers or more from their source

A teletsunami is a tsunami that originates from a distant source, defined as more than 1,000 km (620 mi) away or three hours' travel from the area of interest, sometimes travelling across an ocean. All teletsunamis have been generated by major earthquakes such as the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, 1960 Valdivia earthquake, 1964 Alaska earthquake, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, 2011 Tohoku earthquake, and the 2021 South Sandwich Islands earthquakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami</span> 2010 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami

The 2010 Mentawai earthquake occurred with a moment magnitude of 7.8 on 25 October off the western coast of Sumatra at 21:42 local time. The earthquake occurred on the same fault that produced the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It was widely felt across the provinces of Bengkulu and West Sumatra and resulted in a substantial localized tsunami that struck the Mentawai Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami</span>

Although National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii eventually issued warnings of a possible tsunami from the large earthquake off Sumatra, the waves outran notification systems at jet speeds of 500 mph (804 km/h), catching hundreds of thousands of people unaware. The following is a timeline of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. All times are Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), on Sunday, 26 December 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Tsunami Warning Center</span> Detects and analyzes earthquakes worldwide, issuing warnings to local officials

The National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) is one of two tsunami warning centers in the United States, covering all coastal regions of the United States and Canada, except Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Until 2013, it was known as the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

The 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes were magnitude 8.6 and 8.2 Mw  undersea earthquakes that struck near the Indonesian province of Aceh on 11 April at 15:38 local time. Initially, authorities feared that the initial earthquake would cause a tsunami and warnings were issued across the Indian Ocean; however, these warnings were subsequently cancelled. These were unusually strong intraplate earthquakes and the largest strike-slip earthquake ever recorded.

An earthquake off the coast of Samar occurred on August 31, 2012, at 20:47 local time in the Philippines. The populated islands of Visayas were struck by an earthquake of magnitude Mw 7.6. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 45 km. A tsunami warning was announced within the Pacific area and was lifted after two hours. The Philippine archipelago is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.

The 2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake occurred just after 8:04 p.m. PDT on October 27. The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of V (Moderate). The earthquake's epicentre was on Moresby Island of the Haida Gwaii archipelago. This was the second largest Canadian earthquake ever recorded by a seismometer, after the 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake, about 135 kilometres (84 mi) away. One person died due to a car crash related to the tsunami in Oahu, Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Sumatra earthquake</span> Earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia

The 2016 Sumatra earthquake was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck on 2 March 2016 in the Indian Ocean, approximately 800 kilometers southwest of Sumatra in Indonesia. Tsunami warnings were issued for Indonesia and Australia, but were withdrawn two hours later. There were no deaths directly related to the earthquake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Gulf of Alaska earthquake</span> Earthquake in Gulf of Alaska

On January 23, 2018, at 00:31 AKST, an earthquake occurred in the Gulf of Alaska near Kodiak Island. The earthquake, measured at 7.9 on the Mw scale, was approximately 280 kilometers (170 mi) southeast of Kodiak and happened at a depth of 25 kilometers (16 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Chignik earthquake</span> 7th largest earthquake in the US

An earthquake occurred off the coast of the Alaska Peninsula on July 28, 2021, at 10:15 p.m. local time. The large megathrust earthquake had a moment magnitude of 8.2 according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). A tsunami warning was issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) but later cancelled. The mainshock was followed by a number of aftershocks, including three that were of magnitude 5.9, 6.1 and 6.9 respectively.

References

  1. ↑ Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System up and running, UNESCOPRESS, 28 June 2006
  2. ↑ Asia tsunami warning system ready, BBC News, 28 June 2006
  3. 1 2 Rondonuwu, Olivia (12 April 2012). "Tsunami alerts pass Indonesia quake test, with luck". reuters.com.
  4. ↑ Suk, Sarah, Did disaster forum achieve anything? Archived 2008-11-21 at the Wayback Machine , crisscross.com, 23 January 2005
  5. ↑ Penberthy, Natsumi On this day in history: 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, australiangeographic.com, 26 December 2014
  6. ↑ Annunziato, A, Husrin, S, Prasetya, G. (2019). ANAK KRAKATAU VOLCANO EMERGENCY TSUNAMI EARLY WARNING SYSTEM. Science of Tsunami hazards, pp. 68-95. link Archived 18 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine .
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