Mediterranean states want EU tsunami alert system

Malta, Portugal, France and Greece have asked the European Union to consider the idea of creating an early warning system against natural calamities similar to the one which hit South East Asia on Boxing Day.

The Portuguese Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Enrique de Freitas, raised the issue during an extraordinary meeting of the EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels. The meeting was called to discuss the recent developments following the tsunami tragedy.

Mr de Freitas said it was high time that the European Union starts looking into the possibility of installing an early warning system against tidal waves caused by earthquakes both in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean. He said this would prevent EU countries from passing through the same catastrophic experiences as South East Asia.

Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo represented Malta at the meeting.

At present there is only one alarm system in the world based in Hawaii and covering the Pacific Ocean. However, following last month's calamity, the situation is set to change significantly as many countries with coastal areas at risk are already taking measures to install such alarm systems.

EU sources told The Times that Portugal's proposal was mentioned within the context of the possibility of assisting South East Asian countries to equip themselves with an early warning system.

The sources said Portugal's idea is to extend the possibility of having a similar system to the Mediterranean basin protecting EU member states.

Germany has already offered to play a leading role in improving international early warning systems. The system offered would focus on the Indian Ocean but could later be widened to cover the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. It would cost about €40 million and would warn data centres immediately via internet, e-mail and SMS.

Germany is, however, not alone in bidding to lead improvements in international tsunami warning systems following the Asian catastrophe.

The US State Department's global disaster information network is set to present a model for the future protection of coastal areas to the United Nations-sponsored world conference on disaster reduction this month in Kobe, Japan. The idea is to build a system of up to 50 buoy-based sensors throughout the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans and the Caribbean Sea.

The buoys would be needed to determine whether an earthquake has generated a tsunami. Sensors on the ocean floor would transmit tsunami data to buoys on the surface from where it would then be relayed by satellite to scientists.

During their meeting the EU foreign ministers agreed that, following the short-term humanitarian relief efforts, the focus should now shift to the rehabilitation and long-term reconstruction of the tsunami-hit regions.