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Nov 02, 2009
In the Pacific Ocean the Tsunami Warning System (ITSU) has been set up to provide Pacific basin countries with surveillance and monitoring of tsunamigenic earthquakes, and for providing warnings to member countries when tsunamis are expected to be generated. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii has overall responsibility for issuing tsunami advices and warnings to ITSU members. It is operated by the National Weather Service (NWS) of the USA. It advises appropriate authorities of the occurrence of an earthquake, and indicates whether or not a tsunami has been confirmed and provides estimates of travel time across the Pacific. It is not however in a position to predict actual run-up heights for the eventual landfall of a tsunami in Australia, as this depends on the complexities of coastal geography and offshore bathymetry.
International arrangements for tsunami warnings in the Indian Ocean are currently being developed.
In Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology has responsibility for issuing tsunami warnings. For areas covered by the PTWC the warnings are issued by the Bureau under guidance from the PTWC. At the present time the Australian Tsunami Alert System (ATAS) has been established by the Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia (GA) and Emergency Management Australia (EMA).
The ATAS provides tsunami warning services to all Australian coasts. GA provides the seismological expertise (earthquake detection and analysis). The National Tidal Centre of the Bureau of Meteorology provides sea-level monitoring expertise (tsunami detection). EMA provides expertise in community education, human communication and disaster management liaison. The Bureau of Meteorology provides communications, scientific support and warning provision/dissemination.