The UNESCO-IOC framework – establishing an international early warning infrastructure in the Indian Ocean region

Abstract

Abstract. The Sumatra-Andaman earthquake with a magnitude of 9.3, and the subsequent destructive tsunami which caused more than 225 000 fatalities in the region of the Indian Ocean, happened on 26 December 2004. Less than one month later, the United Nations (UN) World Conference on Disaster Reduction took place in Kobe, Japan to commemorate the 1995 Kobe earthquake. The importance of preparedness and awareness on regional, national and community levels with respect to natural disasters was discussed during this meeting, and resulted in the approval of the Hyogo Declaration on Disaster Reduction. Based on this declaration the UN mandated the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO (United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization), taking note of its over 40 years of successful coordination of the Pacific Tsunami Warning System (PTWC), to take on the international coordination of national early-warning efforts for the Indian Ocean and to guide the process of setting up a Regional Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean.

The GEOFON Program in 2020

“…A pivotal moment was the 2004 Aceh-Andaman earthquake and tsunami, which prompted the German government to fund the GITEWS project (German Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System) (Lauterjung et al 2010). In this project, GEOFON was tasked to deliver a system capable of rapidly locating and providing reliable magnitudes for potential tsunamigenic earthquakes for Indonesia.…”

Postface "The GITEWS Project – results, summary and outlook"

“…The evaluation revealed the innovative approach to the challenge of near-field tsunami early warning and gave advice on improvements and ideas for future development of such systems. This will be tracked in particular in the growing international framework for the establishment of world-wide early warning systems (Lauterjung et al, 2010b).…”

Regional Cooperation towards Effective Multi-Hazard Early Warnings in Asia

“…Hence, several mechanisms and initiatives have been established in Asia to address this urgent need in the region. For example, establishment of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning & Mitigation System (IOTWMS) in 2011 [18,19], setting up of 24 tsunami warning centres in the Indian Ocean, and expanding the number of deep ocean tsunameters for data sharing are some of the initiatives taken place in the region [20].…”