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| Sunday, 1 January 2006 |
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Tsunami warning within 30 minutes of quake says Met dept by Thava Sajitharan "Tsunami Warning Centre in the Meteorology Department would be able to disseminate warning to Sri Lankan public within 30 minutes of the occurrence of any major earthquake that has the likelihood of triggering tsunamis" said Lalith Chandraperuma, Deputy Director of Meteorology. The assurance was given by the Deputy Director at a workshop held at the Met Department auditorium in Colombo on 'Natural disasters' last Wednesday. The workshop was organised by the Meteorology Department in collaboration with the Science and Technology Ministry for the benefit of media personnel. Science and Technology Minister Professor. Tissa Vitharana was the chief guest of the occasion. Mr. Chandraperuma said that establishing the Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System (IOTWS) is afoot and expected to be complete by 2007. During the 23rd session of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) held in June 2005 several resolutions were adopted that established "Intergovernmental Coordination Groups" for the development of the IOTWS, he said. Enlightening the participants of the workshop on 'current status of tsunami early warning system', Chandraperuma further said that Sri Lankan Meteorology Department was formally designated as the national focal point to receive and disseminate tsunami warnings in March 2005. The centre in the Department receives tsunami information from Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC), according to him. He also said several communication pathways including mass media and police communication system which has a high frequency network all around the island had been identified to disseminate the warning to the public. Exploring the causes of the massive destruction by the tsunami last year Chandraperuma noted that public awareness on tsunami before it occurred was virtually non-existent and it led to intensive losses of lives. There was no tsunami early warning system, he said. Chandraperuma also pointed out that Disaster Management Act number 13 of 2005 was ratified by parliament on May 13, 2005 and expressed hope that it would help enhance disaster management. The workshop was held in sessions. Delivering the address in the first session Minister Tissa Vitharana appealed to the media not to sensationalise issues concerning natural disasters but to report only the facts. Science is all about facts, he said. Natural diasters like tsunami are hard to predict, therefore we've got to
be vigilant and act in a responsible manner, the Minister said. |
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