Getting Tsunami Recovery and Early Warning Right

2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-61
Author(s):  
Ben Wisner ◽  
Peter Walker

The massive human and economic impact of the Asian tsunami in later 2004 is mirrored in the aftershocks felt among humanitarian organisations, development agencies, and policy makers. This paper raises a number of these troubling, fundamental issues. Firstly, the call for an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system raises fundamental issues about what warning systems can, and cannot, do. Secondly, one is also forced to consider why in the first place so many people live on exposed coasts today, vulnerable not only to tsunamis but tropical storms and rainy season flooding among other hazards. Thirdly, one is challenged to question the very meaning of “recovery”. Such massive damage has been done and so many people and their livelihoods have been dislocated, is it actually possible to imagine a return to the status quo ante? Fourthly, reconstruction of the magnitude now underway in the affected areas raises many difficult questions about accountability, transparency, and the unevenness with which the international community responds to crises. The paper finishes with some recommendations.

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 843-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Tinti ◽  
L. Graziani ◽  
B. Brizuela ◽  
A. Maramai ◽  
S. Gallazzi

Abstract. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami catastrophe, UNESCO through the IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) sponsored the establishment of Intergovernmental Coordination Groups (ICG) with the aim to devise and implement Tsunami Warning Systems (TWSs) in all the oceans exposed to tsunamis, in addition to the one already in operation in the Pacific (PTWS). In this context, since 2005, efforts have begun for the establishment of TWSs in the Indian Ocean (IOTWS), in the Caribbean area (CARIBE EWS) and in the North Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS). In this paper, we focus on a specific tool that was first introduced in the PTWS routine operations, i.e., the Decision Matrix (DM). This is an easy-to-use table establishing a link between the main parameters of an earthquake and the possible ensuing tsunami in order to make quick decision on the type of alert bulletins that a Tsunami Warning Center launches to its recipients. In the process of implementation of a regional TWS for the NEAM area, two distinct DMs were recently proposed by the ICG/NEAMTWS, one for the Atlantic and the other for the entire Mediterranean area. This work applies the Mediterranean NEAMTWS DM to the earthquakes recorded in Italy and compares the action predicted by the DM vs. the action that should be appropriate in view of the observed tsunami characteristics with the aim to establish how good the performance of the Italian TWS will be when it uses the DM for future events. To this purpose, we make use of the parametric catalogue of the Italian earthquakes (CPTI04) compiled in 2004 and the most recent compilation of the Italian tsunami, based on the Italian Tsunami Catalogue of 2004 and the subsequent revisions. In order to better compare the TWS actions, we have identified four different kinds of action coding them from 0 to 3 according to the tsunami severity and have further considered three different distance ranges where these actions apply, that is local, regional and basin-wide, that refer to the distance of the message recipients from the tsunami source. The result of our analysis is that the actions prescribed by the DM are adequate only in 45%–55% of the cases, overestimations are about 37% and underestimations are the rest. As a whole, the predictive ability of the DM is not satisfactory, which implies that recipients have the difficult task in managing bulletins carrying a great deal of uncertainty and on the other hand also suggests that strategies to improve the DM or to go beyond the DM need to be found.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mumtaz Luthfi ◽  
Anawat Suppasri ◽  
Louise K. Comfort ◽  

Abstract. On 22 December 2018, a tsunami was generated from the Mount Anak Krakatau area that was caused by volcanic flank failures. The tsunami had severe impacts on the western coast of Banten and the southern coasts of Lampung in Indonesia. A series of surveys to measure the impacts of the tsunami was started three days after the tsunami and lasted ten days. Immediate investigations allowed the collection of relatively authentic images of the tsunami impacts before the clearing process started. This article investigates the impacts of the 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami on the affected areas and presents an analysis of the impacts of pure hydrodynamic tsunami forces on buildings. Impacts of the tsunami were expected to exhibit different characteristics than those found following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Aceh. Data was collected from 117 flow depths along the Banten and Lampung coasts. Furthermore, 98 buildings or houses were assessed for damage. Results of this study revealed that the flow depths were higher in Banten than in Lampung. Directions of the tsunami arrays created by the complex bathymetry around the strait caused these differences. Tsunami-induced damage to buildings was mostly the result of impact forces and drag forces. Damping forces could not be associated with the damages. The tsunami warning system in Indonesia should be extended to anticipate non-seismic tsunamis, such as landslides and volcanic processes driven by tsunamis. Lack of a tsunami warning during the first few minutes after the generation of the first wave led to a significant number of human casualties at both of the affected areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 549-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mumtaz Luthfi ◽  
Anawat Suppasri ◽  
Louise K. Comfort ◽  

Abstract. On 22 December 2018, a tsunami was generated from the Mount Anak Krakatau area that was caused by volcanic flank failures. The tsunami had severe impacts on the western coast of Banten and the southern coasts of Lampung in Indonesia. A series of surveys to measure the impacts of the tsunami was started 3 d after the tsunami and lasted for 10 d. Immediate investigations allowed the collection of relatively authentic images of the tsunami impacts before the clearing process started. This article investigates the impacts of the 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami on the affected areas and presents an analysis of the impacts of pure hydrodynamic tsunami forces on buildings. Impacts of the tsunami were expected to exhibit different characteristics than those found following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Aceh. Data were collected from 117 flow depths along the Banten and Lampung coasts. Furthermore, 98 buildings or houses were assessed for damage. Results of this study revealed that the flow depths were higher in Banten than in Lampung. Directions of the tsunami arrays created by the complex bathymetry around the strait caused these differences. Tsunami-induced damage to buildings was mostly the result of impact forces and drag forces. Damping forces could not be associated with the damage. The tsunami warning system in Indonesia should be extended to anticipate non-seismic tsunamis, such as landslides and volcanic processes driven by tsunamis. The lack of a tsunami warning during the first few minutes after the generation of the first wave led to a significant number of human casualties in both of the affected areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bachtiar W. Mutaqin ◽  
Ikhwan Amri ◽  
Bagas Aditya

Indonesia memiliki catatan sejarah yang panjang dengan bencana tsunami. Dari sejumlah kejadian tsunami yang ada, tsunami Samudra Hindia tahun 2004 dinilai sebagai bencana alam yang paling mematikan sepanjang abad dan paling berperan dalam mengubah paradigma manajemen kebencanaan di Indonesia. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meninjau pola kejadian tsunami dan perkembangan manajemen bencana di Indonesia setelah tsunami tahun 2004 dengan memanfaatkan database tsunami dan tinjauan literatur. Sebanyak 22 kejadian tsunami telah tercatat di Indonesia selama 2005-2018, di mana sebagian besar lokasi tsunami terkonsentrasi di Pulau Sumatera bagian barat dan bersumber dari Samudra Hindia. Tujuh kejadian diantaranya menimbulkan dampak signifikan, termasuk dua tsunami terakhir yang dipicu oleh faktor non seismik. Sistem manajemen bencana sebenarnya telah mengalami perubahan secara besar-besaran setelah tsunami tahun 2004, mulai dari berlakunya peraturan perundang-undangan tentang penanggulangan bencana, pembentukan institusi baru untuk penanggulangan bencana, hingga konstuksi sistem peringatan dini tsunami (InaTEWS). Meskipun telah berfokus pada upaya preventif, dampak tsunami dalam beberapa tahun terakhir masih cukup besar. Hal ini dipengaruhi oleh 4 faktor utama: (1) konsentrasi penduduk yang tinggi di area bahaya tsunami, (2) terbatasnya infrastruktur diseminasi peringatan dini, (3) kurangnya kesadaran masyarakat untuk melakukan evakuasi mandiri tanpa menunggu peringatan, dan (4) sistem peringatan dini tsunami belum mempertimbangkan faktor non seismik.Indonesia has a long history with the tsunami. From numerous tsunami events in the world, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was considered as the deadliest natural disaster of the century and had the most role in changing the paradigm of disaster management in Indonesia. This study aims to review the spatial pattern of tsunami events and the development of disaster management in Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami through the tsunami database and literature review. At least there are 22 tsunami events were recorded in Indonesia in the period of 2005-2018, where most of its locations were concentrated on the western part of Sumatra Island and sourced from the Indian Ocean. We had identified that seven of these events have significant impacts, including the last two tsunamis triggered by non-seismic factors. The disaster management system has actually improved drastically following the 2004 tsunami, such as the enactment of laws and regulations on disaster management, the establishment of special institutions for disaster management, and the construction of a tsunami early warning system (InaTEWS). Although it has focused on preventive measures, tsunami impacts in recent years are still quite large. This situation is affected by four factors: (1) high and dense population in the tsunami hazard area, (2) limited infrastructure for early warning dissemination, (3) lack of public awareness to conduct evacuations following the disaster events, and (4) early warning systems for tsunami has not considered yet the non-seismic factors.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Indrajit Pal ◽  
Subhajit Ghosh ◽  
Itesh Dash ◽  
Anirban Mukhopadhyay

Purpose This paper aims to provide a general overview of the international Tsunami warning system mandated by the United Nations, particularly on cataloging past studies and a strategic focus in the Indian Ocean, particularly on the Bay of Bengal region. Design/methodology/approach Present research assimilates the secondary non-classified data on the Tsunami warning system installed in the Indian Ocean. Qualitative review and exploratory research methodology have been followed to provide a holistic profile of the Tsunami rarly warning system (TEWS) and its role in coastal resilience. Findings The study finds the need for strategic focus to expand and interlink regional early warning cooperation mechanisms and partnerships to enhance capacities through cooperation and international assistance and mobilize resources necessary to maintain the TEWS in the Indian Ocean region. The enhanced capacity of the TEWS certainly improves the resilience of Indian Ocean coastal communities and infrastructures. Originality/value The study is original research and useful for policy planning and regional cooperation on data interlinkages for effective TEWS in the Indian Ocean region.


Author(s):  
Qaiser Munir ◽  
Sook Ching Kok

The purpose of this chapter is to present with an overview of the early warning systems (EWS) applied to global banking crises. Numerous past studies have focused on the EWS of banking crisis. The majority of these studies have developed a predictive model to forecast the likelihood of banking crisis. Relatively less studies in the past show an attempt to predict both crisis likelihood and timing of the crisis likelihood. Precision of timing with respects to a specific type of financial crisis is undeniably difficult. Nonetheless, knowing the timing of crisis likelihood will make policy more effective. Policy makers will be able to response promptly to the upcoming banking crisis by taking pre-emptive measures which are crucial to mitigate the impact from the crisis. Specifically, this would help to avoid the widespread of crisis. It is aware that a banking crisis can transform into a systemic banking crisis which possibly ruins the function of the domestic financial system.


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