Reply #93: Good questions. It seems that there will be a congressional investigation [View All]

NOAA's role in warning nations is questioned

By Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Correspondent  |  December 29, 2004

Congress will investigate why the US government did not notify some nations lining the Indian Ocean of early indications that a deadly tsunami might be headed their way, a spokeswoman for Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, said yesterday.

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Yet the tsunami took as long as two hours to reach some countries, and NOAA's critics say timely-- even unofficial -- warnings might have allowed people in coastal areas to flee.

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"Why didn't the people who monitor these things warn the Indian countries that a tsunami was about to hit them," said Nirj Deva, a member of the European Parliament said on the BBC. "Nobody was warned. All these people died unnecessarily."

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"You can have big earthquakes and no measurable tsunamis," said Wunsch, who defended NOAA's reaction to the quake. "And you can have rather small earthquakes that produce large regional tsunamis." 

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/12/29/noaas_role_in_warning_nations_is_questioned/

"Scientists at the center in Hawaii tried to alert officials in the region with what few contacts they had, said retired Canadian researcher Tad Murty, who is familiar with the scientists' efforts.

"They tried to raise the alarm every possible way," Murty said. "The problem was with the countries in the Indian Ocean: Nobody really responded, and nothing much was done about it." "

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-warnings28dec28,1,3809480.story?coll=la-headlines-world

It will be interesting to learn what "every possible way" meant in practice.