Vietnam to build tsunami alert center

The National Hydro-Meteorology Center has been assigned to report on the requirements for the building of the center, the minister added. Director of the National Hydro-Meteorology Centre Bui Van Duc said that the tsunami warning system's technical network should be built in coordination with other systems monitoring other kinds of natural disasters. He suggested that close watch be kept on tsunami risks in Vietnam, as the country is exposed to more than 3,000km of coastline on the South China Sea (East Sea), where large earthquakes originating in the Philippines often occur.

"The center is devising a plan to disseminate information guiding people to protect themselves from natural disasters, storms and tsunamis, and to evacuate when sea water suddenly withdraws. The plan is expected to be completed before the year's end", Duc said.

He warns that people's awareness on natural disasters and tsunamis is still limited. Fishermen still go to sea, even without lifebuoys, when they are informed that there will likely be a storm, Duc noted.Though Vietnam has 21 marine meteorological stations under the National Hydro-Meteorological Center, and a number of earthquake measurement stations under the Vietnam Global Physics Institute, they are as yet unable to forecast tsunamis. Vietnam has called for international support to the building of a tsunami warning centre.


(Source: ThanhNien News)