• Disaster preparedness Disaster preparedness By the Philippine Star, Manila – December 29, 2004 Filipinos can only thank the heavens for keeping away from this country the deadly tsunamis that swept through Asia last Sunday. Otherwise we would be joining
• Disaster preparedness
Disaster preparedness
By the Philippine Star, Manila – December 29, 2004
Filipinos can only thank the heavens for keeping away from this country the deadly tsunamis that swept through Asia last Sunday. Otherwise we would be joining the other tsunami-stricken nations in wringing hands over the lack of effective early warning systems for natural disasters.
President Arroyo admitted yesterday that the country lacked forecasting capability for giant waves and other natural catastrophes. Even before the tsunamis unleashed by a powerful earthquake off the Indonesian coast killed tens of thousands across Asia, the disaster preparedness of the Philippines was already under question. …
Geologists said the magnitude 9.0 quake that triggered the recent Asian tsunamis knocked the Earth off its axis and permanently altered the regional map. Experts in Japan, where a rapid alert system for tsunamis following temblors has been in place since the Kobe earthquake a decade ago, said thousands of lives could have been saved if a similar warning system was in place in the stricken countries. It took up to two hours for the massive walls of water to roar into the coastlines of South and Southeast Asia, the experts noted, but there was little or no warning of the approaching danger.
The Philippines is no stranger to tsunamis. In August 1976, a tsunami killed thousands in Mindanao. Since then, however, nothing has been done to upgrade the nation’s early warning capability.
The nation cannot predict the strength of typhoons with reliable accuracy, much less the approach of killer tsunamis. This deficiency must be addressed before the nation faces massive catastrophe.
