Finland grants support for construction of the tsunami early warning system
Press Release 119/2005
8 April 2005
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted 1.4 million euros for the building of a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean region. The project entails expansion of the real-time sea-level measurement network set up on ocean islands, replacement of outdated equipment, training for station-keepers and maintenance of the stations for the next five years. Paula Lehtomäki, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development, made a decision concerning this issue on Thursday, 7 April.
The project will be implemented by the Unesco Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the IOC. The Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) operating under Unesco will be responsible for technical implementation of the project. The IOC is now organising its next meeting on building, financing and coordinating the early warning system, to be held on Mauritius on 14–16 April. Finland will announce its funding for the project at this meeting.
The tsunami which struck on 26 December caused unprecedented destruction in many states on the Indian Ocean. Discussion on how to prevent recurrence in future began immediately after the catastrophe. One means of prevention is to create an early warning system that would help residents prepare for an advancing tsunami, thereby avoiding serious consequences.
If the network of measurement stations now being planned had been in use during the earthquake which occurred on Easter Monday, the exceptionally small size of the resulting tsunami would have been documented very soon after the earthquake itself. In consequence, evacuation measures, for instance, on the coast of Thailand would have been appreciably shorter in term or could have been averted altogether.
Five country-specific early warning systems are being built in the Indian Ocean region, but planning of a joint regional system has not yet begun. The IOC is coordinating international development work on the early warning system. The goal is for a regional early warning system to be operational in mid-2006. Important elements of the early warning system, such as the measurement stations for determinations of the sea level, can be built and taken into use quickly, and can be linked to already existing warning systems.
The funding now granted is part of the aid Finland pledged for reconstruction following the tsunami, amounting in total to seven million euros for the year 2005.
Additional information: Project Assistant Marita Meranto, Unit for Asia and Oceania, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6405; and Docent Tapani Stipa, Finnish Institute of Marine Research, tel. + 358 9 613 941, mobile tel. +358 40 505 8090