Tsunamis

<p>Congress is concerned about the possible vulnerability of U.S. coastal areas to tsunamis and the adequacy of early warning for coastal areas. This stems from a December 26 2004 tsunami that devastated many coastal areas around the northern Indian Ocean where few tsunami early warning systems had operated. Caused by a strong underwater earthquake off the coast of Sumatra Indonesia the tsunami claimed an estimated 220000 lives. Nations affected by the 2004 tsunami assisted by other counties launched a multilateral effort to develop a network for regional tsunami detection and warning of coastal populations around the Indian Ocean the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS). The UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) leads that international effort. To leverage costs of the IOTWS IOC members have suggested using extant ocean observation and monitoring networks data collection systems marine buoys and tide gage networks and global telecommunications systems. This may pose the technical challenge of standardizing communication protocols to ensure interoperability of international systems. Also supporters of the IOTWS consider a fully deployed U.S. network an important component of a future global tsunami warning capability.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>