Wednesday, April 20th, 2005

21 Government Representatives from 11 Tsunami-Affected Countries Work On Early Warning System Via GD

TDLC and JICA Regional Seminar on Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System March 16 & 17

The Tokyo Development Learning Center and Japan International Cooperation Agency have collaborated on two sessions of the JICA Regional Seminar on Tsunami Early Warning System. The sessions connected with sites in Delhi and Kuala Lumpur and convened in Tokyo 21 participants from the director-general level of 11 countries to review institutional preparedness, share knowledge on risk evaluation, and discuss effective countermeasures.

A slide from the risk evaluation and countermeasures presentation from Professor Fumihiko Imamura of Tohoku University showing world seismicity, 1975-1995 (image from USGS National Earthquake Information Center)

Seven Japanese experts from government, the development community, and academia presented papers to the seminar ranging from basic scientific knowledge of earthquakes and tsunami to an overview of Japanese disaster mitigation methods and effective requirements for an early warning system.

The material was designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the state of knowledge of these natural phenomena while focusing on the successes and lessons learned from the Japanese context. These lessons are being directed to enhance international understanding of rehabilitation methods and needs and to support the reconstruction efforts being carried out by governments, donor agencies, and international organizations.

JICA provides additional information and the presentation materials available for downloading here:

http://www.jica-net.com/en2/lib/CpDtT100Page_en.php

The TDLC is working to develop several tsunami-related projects with key partners throughout the region, and looks forward to reporting on their progress as and when we can.

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