Crs Report for Congress - Tsunamis: Monitoring, Detection, and Early Warning Systems: February 23, 2006 - Rl32739 (Paperback)

Some in Congress are concerned about the possible vulnerability of U.S. coastal areas to tsunamis and about the adequacy of early warning for coastal areas of the western Atlantic Ocean. This stems from the December 26, 2004, tsunami that devastated many coastal areas around the northern Indian Ocean, where few tsunami early warning systems currently operate. Caused by a strong underwater earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, the earthquake and ensuing tsunami together are estimated to have claimed as many as 300,000 lives. Affected nations, assisted by others, are pursuing multilateral efforts through the UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to develop a regional tsunami detection and warning network to alert coastal populations around the Indian Ocean. Those efforts coincide with President Bush's plan for upgrading and expanding U.S. tsunami detection and early warning capabilities, which was released in December 2005. Some developed countries bounded by the Indian Ocean already have operating tsunami warnings systems. However, in some areas of these and in neighboring countries, there is no emergency management infrastructure to receive tsunami warnings. Local officials are incapable of rapidly alerting the public to evacuate or to take other safety precautions. However, most disaster management experts assert that an ...