What is the Tsunami Warning System?
The lack of a warning during the 1946 tsunami that devastated many coastal areas in Hawaii, led scientists and governmental agencies to establish a Tsunami Warning System (TWS), for the Hawaiian Islands and United States territories in the Pacific by 1948. The main objectives of this system are: To detect and locate the existence all possible tsunami causing earthquakes by the use of properly monitored seismographs; to ensure that a tsunami actually exists by measuring water level changes at water level and tide-gauging stations located throughout the Pacific; and finally, to determine the time of arrival of the tsunami and to provide an adequate warning for evacuation procedures. The warning system has been expanded to include 24 ocean countries and is now called the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. It also provides limited warning information for Indian Ocean coastal countries.
The lack of a warning during the 1946 tsunami that devastated many coastal areas in Hawaii, led scientists and governmental agencies to establish a Tsunami Warning System (TWS), for the Hawaiian Islands and United States territories in the Pacific by 1948. The main objectives of this system are: To detect and locate the existence of all possible tsunami-causing earthquakes by the use of properly monitored seismographs; to ensure that a tsunami actually exists by measuring water level changes at water level and tide-gauging stations located throughout the Pacific; and finally, to determine the time of arrival of the tsunami and to provide an adequate warning for evacuation procedures. The warning system has been expanded to include 24 ocean countries and is now called the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. It also provides limited warning information for Indian Ocean coastal countries.
