A tsunami is one of the critically dangerous natural disasters that might result in crucial devastations. On December 26, 2004, the areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives were hit by a tsunami produced by the earthquake 155 kilometers from Sumatra (Schmidt, 2005). The 30 feet high waves killed more than 150,000 people and preconditioned traumas among millions of other victims, making it one of the worst natural disasters of this sort in history (Schmidt, 2005). At the same time, it demonstrated the inability of existing warning systems to respond fast and effectively and protect people by evacuating them and providing an appropriate shelter. The problem was that the Indian Ocean area lacked sensor technologies to detect earthquakes that might signalize the appearance of a tsunami (Schmidt, 2005). The absence of needed tools critically deteriorated the effectiveness of the whole warning system.
Today, multiple attempts are performed to avoid the repetition of the scenario and improve the current methods of managing tsunamis. There is a specific Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS), which is considered a successful end-to-end warning system that helps to detect the first signs of the earthquake in the ocean and warn the appropriate authorities responsible for organizing the population and its transporting to safe areas. (Hettiarachchi, 2018). Adopting systems results in increased preparedness and awareness levels, while the severity of outcomes decreases (Hettiarachchi, 2018). In such a way, it is possible to conclude that the poor functioning of awareness systems in the past preconditioned the reconsideration of the approach to monitoring tsunamis and warning people about them. Today, frameworks such as IOTWMS can be viewed as sufficient and adequate enough to save lives.
References
Hettiarachchi, S. (2018). Establishing the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System for human and environmental security. Procedia Engineering, 212, 1319-1346. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.173
Schmidt, C. (2005). Natural disasters: Building a tsunami warning system. Environmental Health Perspectives, 113(2), A90. doi:10.1289/ehp.113-a90