Warning Centre to hold workshop on 10th anniv of 2004 Tsunami

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) will conduct a national workshop on the 10th anniversary of the devastating tsunami that killed lakhs of people on December 26, 2004.
The Workshop, to be held tomorrow in the city, will focus on the technical roadmap for the warning system and also on development of standard operating procedures for disaster management authorities, a release from ITEWC said.
The Warning Centre said it has strengthened its warning procedures by evolving with new strategies and methodologies, and are capable of detecting the tsunamigeneic earthquakes within minutes, thereby issuing timely advisories.
During the event, a hypothetical earthquake event of the west coast of Northern Sumatra would be introduced and an emergency situation would be simulated to elicit constructive discussions from the participants to enhance their plans, policies and procedures.

Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan would inaugurate the workshop.
"Currently, the Tsunami Early Warning System is capable of detecting the tsunamigeneic earthquakes within 10-20 minutes and issues timely tsunami advisories to disaster management officials as well as to the vulnerable communities," it said.
Although, a decade ago an extensive technology and procedures were in place to detect tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean, no system was in place in the Indian Ocean, which substantially increased the devastation of the 2004 tsunami, it said.
"Realising the devastative potential of tsunamis, the Government of India directed Ministry of Earth Sciences to set up an early warning system within earliest possible time at INCOIS in collaboration with NIOT, ICMAM, IMD, SOI and NRSC as the major participating institutions," the release said.