Tsunami Warning System

Technology is already available to monitor and to provide early warning systems to areas that could potentially be affected by a tsunami. The problem is getting governments to recognize the urgency of the problem and take swift action to deploy these warning systems.

A tsunami warning system consists of three major components:
1) Undersea Recorder/monitor. 2) Acoustic link at sea level. 3) Satellite link and monitor center.

1. Undersea Recorder/monitor - a special equipment resting on the seabed that monitors changes in pressure, it can detect tsunamis as small as 1cm. This device transmits its signal to the acoustic link located at the sea level.
2. Acoustic link at sea level - retransmits the signal from Undersea Recorder/monitor to satellite link and down to ground monitor center.
3. Monitor center - ground facility with around-the-clock personnel monitoring the alert. In case of any alert, the scientist at this monitor center will make predictions and alert cities that might be affected by the incoming tsunami.

The Tsunami Warning System (TWS) within the Pacific has many monitoring seismological and tidal stations throughout the Pacific Basin to evaluate potentially tsunamigenic earthquakes and spread tsunami warning information. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) is the operational center of the Pacific TWS. Located near Honolulu, Hawaii, PTWC provides tsunami warning information to national authorities in the Pacific Basin.

For the tsunami of December 2004, The PTWC actually picked up the tsunami alert from its sensor. Unfortunately, there is no mechanism to warn countries in the Indian Ocean region and the alert was not sent out.

Powerful computers in a Vienna office building also picked up the seismic activity. Computers at the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CNTBT) Organization are designed to monitor nuclear explosions anywhere in the world but, as a side effect, they also sense earthquake vibrations.

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Credits

Credits: Online

• The Tsunami Warning System
• Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
• International Tsunami Warning Center
• Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre, University College London
• Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
• The Geological Society, London
• Natural Environment Research Council Tsunami Risks Project
• University of Washington Tsunami Information
• Pacific Tsunami Museum, Hawaii
• U.S. Geological Survey
• Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
• University of Oregon Seismology Dept

Credits: Books

Furious Earth:The Science and Nature of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis by Ellen J. Prager.

Credits: Individuals

• Ms. Irivinti for teaching us how to use Dreamweaver for our web design, Photoshop and Fireworks for graphics as well as animating our logo. She taught us how to create different background (fading) effects, how to pick appropriate colors, and how to generate theme specific images, spacers etc. She also assisted us with all programming aspects of our website.
• Mrs. Cataldo, Ms. Irivinti and our parents for guiding us with research and content development. It was difficult to find information we needed in one place and their assistance helped us a lot in this regard.
• Mrs. Cataldo and Ms. Irivinti for reviewing and editing what we wrote. They told us when our writing needed more work and also taught us how to cite sources, obtain permission for images that we borrowed from other websites and also the proper way to credit them.

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Related Interactions

Items below in purple are the same as that were done for the Dynamics page.

• Formation of Continents
• Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics
• Contour Drawing
• Cross Section of Our Planet
• Quiz
• Tsunami Simulator

More Reading on Tsunami Warning System

• Australia - Tsunami Warning
• Row over tsunami warning system
• Tsunami Legends

More Online Interactivities on Tsunamis

• Animation of tsunami 2004
• Tsunami Generation

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Vocabulary on Tsunamis

Continent - One of the principal land masses of the earth usually regarded as including Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Drift - moving away Plates - earth's shell broken into smaller sections Pangaea - super-continent from the past when all current day continents were joined together as one huge continent.

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