Crs Report for Congress - Tsunamis: Monitoring, Detection, and Early Warning Systems: May 16, 2005 - 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. The tsunami was caused by a strong underwater earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake and 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 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to develop a regional tsunami detection and warning network that would guard coastal populations around the Indian Ocean. Those efforts would coincide with the United States' goal of upgrading and expanding its tsunami detection and early warning network. Some developed countries bounding the Indian Ocean region already have operating tsunami warnings systems. However, in other areas of these countries and in neighboring countries, an emergency management infrastructure to receive tsunami warnings is lacking. This leaves local officials incapable of rapidly alerting the public to evacuate or to take other safety precautions. Disaster management experts assert that an emergency ...