Tokyo, Dec 9 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government will start operating the world's first tsunami wave surveillance system with the use of the global positioning system in fiscal 2008, enabling detection of tsunamis up to 10 minutes before they hit the Japanese coast.
The planned system will monitor sea wave motion every second using GPS-equipped buoys floated 20 kilometers offshore.
It will combine surveillance data, such as wave height and cycle, with geographical information such as seabed topography to predict the scale of possible tsunami waves.
The system, developed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, was initially intended to help design ports.
Tsunami surveillance data will be distributed to the Japan Meteorological Agency to support disaster prevention.
The government launched GPS-equipped buoys off the coasts of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, northern Japan, as well as Kochi Prefecture, western Japan, this year, and plans to install ones in five more places by the end
of March.
Because there have been no ways to detect tsunamis, the Japan Meteorological Agency previously issued tsunami warnings whenever an earthquake occurs in coastal areas, not knowing whether tsunami will actually hit the Japanese coast, the agency said.
Because of the low reliability, many residents in coastal areas simply ignore tsunami alerts, according to the agency.(Jiji Press)
Today In Asia : Last Update : 08:39:07 10 December 2007 (GMT+7:00)
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