7:14 AM: Honolulu PTWC Issues Earthquake Bulletin (no tsunami mention)

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714 AM Honolulu PTWC Issues Earthquake Bulletin
(no tsunami mention)
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10,500 DEAD
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23,000 DEAD
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30,000 DEAD
930 AM Tsunami Hits Galle, Kalutara and more
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What Can One Phone Call Do?
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What Can a National Disaster Warning System Do?
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Best Case
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804 AM Honolulu Warning Reaches Warning Center
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lives saved
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Worst Case
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23,000 DEAD
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23,000 DEAD
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7,000 saved
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What Can a Tsunami Warning System Do?
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• If the warning is generated quickly...
• If the media acts promptly...
• If the sirens are in place on the East Coast...
• If disaster awareness is high...
• the media acted promptly
• If the sirens were in place on the East Coast
• If disaster awareness was high

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714 AM 10 mts COLOMBO Issues Tsunami Warning
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Almost 30,000 Lives Saved
Hotels and Beaches Cleared
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What Is Being Done?
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Vanguard Disaster Preparedness Centre

• A new private-third sector foundation is being
  established to make sure the lessons of this
  disaster are implemented

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With LIRNEasia

• Process to develop a peoples concept paper on
  a disaster warning system already started
• Expert consultation on January 26th
• International experts (Peter Anderson et al.)
• Local researchers LIRNEasia
• Subset of 100 alumni of Asian Disaster
  Preparedness Center in Bangkok
• Persons with expertise selected through newspaper
  advertisement

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• Draft report up on websites by February 10th or
  before
• www.vanguardfoundationlanka.org
• www.lirneasia.net
• Video news conference
• Finalized after comment period
• Expert readers recruited
• Final Report to government by end February

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• After February
• Disaster education program in schools, leveraged
  by electronic media
• Quizzes, activities, contests
• Leading up to Disaster Awareness Day, June 26th,
  2005

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What Will This Produce?
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Hopefully, more Angels like Tilly

• Last term Mr Kearney taught us about earthquakes
  and how they can cause tsunamis,
• I was on the beach and the water started to go
  funny. There were bubbles and the tide went out
  all of a sudden.
• I recognised what was happening and had a
  feeling there was going to be a tsunami. I told
  mummy.

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In sum

• Institutions more important than technology
• Though technology is valuable
• Disaster prevention is core business of
  government
• But too important to be left to government alone
• Too many died
• But not in vain, if we succeed in building
  warning system and increasing disaster awareness

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For more information

• www.vanguardfoundationlanka.org
• www.lirneasia.net
• Rohan Samarajiva samarajiva_at_lirne.net