Tsunami Warning Agreement

Tsunami Warning Agreement



Feb 2007 - The governments of 
the United States and Australia today signed an agreement to 
promote cooperative technical partnerships in tsunami early 
warning systems. 
As part of this effort, the U.S. National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, and the Australian Bureau of 
Meteorology expect to launch a new Deep-ocean Assessment and 
Reporting of Tsunamis (DART™) buoy station in April to further 
strengthen the Indian Ocean region's capacity for tsunami 
warning. 
Triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the northwest 
coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, a tsunami struck without warning 
on December 26, 2004, killing more than 280,000 people and 
displacing more than 158 million others in 11 Indian Ocean 
countries. 
"NOAA is pleased to have the Bureau as a partner in the Indian 
and South West Pacific basins to assist in providing part of a 
global tsunami warning capability," said USAF retired 
Brigadier General John "Jack" Kelly, NOAA deputy 
undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere. 
"We expect that Australia and the United States will continue 
to work together to maintain a robust operational tsunami 
warning system throughout this region," Kelly said. 
"We are creating a structure and network of scientists in both 
countries to share data and provide technical capabilities," 
said Geoff Love, Ph.D, director of the Australian Bureau of 
Meteorology. "The agreement fosters a mutual exchange of 
scientific and technical expertise to the benefit of both 
countries." 
The technical collaboration and partnership strengthens 
national and regional capacity for tsunami detection, 
forecast, warning, communication, preparedness and other 
aspects of an end-to-end tsunami warning system. 
It increases the number of in situ and deep ocean sea level 
observations available in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The 
partnership also reduces the cost of development, deployment, 
operations and maintenance for tsunami detection systems that 
protect Australia, the U.S. and the Pacific and Indian Ocean 
regions.

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