Asian-Pacific's seismic risk

The Pacific Ring of Fire

The Asian subcontinent knows the devastation seismic activity can caused. On 26 December 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed almost 230,000 people in fourteen countries and is regarded as one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. However despite this, the recent earthquake in Chile, that sent shock-waves throughout the Pacific Ocean, has triggered concerns about whether the Asian-Pacific region is prepared for another seismic disaster.

The Chilean earthquake was an 8.8 magnitude occurrence and was the seventh most powerful on record. It also caused a tsunami, but this was not reported by the head of Chile's oceanographic service who was fired as a result.

Shock waves spread across the Pacific Ocean causing countries as far apart as the United States and Australia to issue tsunami warnings. However while no one was killed outside of Chile was killed and the aftershocks subsided, the warnings gave an indication of the region's seismic preparedness.

In Australia, thousands of beach-goers ignored alerts following Chile's huge earthquake forcing lifeguards to struggle to clear hazard areas. In Miami, a deluge of conflicting messages to and from the government caused confusion as tsunami alerts were placed and then lifted several times in order not to lead to unnecessary panic. The state of Hawaii received a tsunami warning from Chilean stations, however the population of Chile didn't.

It shows the large amount of confusion that reigned in the quake's aftermath.

Ring of Fire

The Pacific "Ring of Fire" is a zone of major seismic activity which has one of the world's most active fault lines. It has caused earthquakes and tsunamis in Indonesia and Samoa and has the most frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions in the world.

As such, many countries have a warning system. In Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre is run by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which, in 1960, warned of another Chilean earthquake that caused a tsunami that ended up killing 200 people across the ocean in Japan. It was upgraded by the 2004 tsunami.

There is also a 28 country Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWAS). This system has been designed to prevent a repeat of the 2004 tsunami by warning countries of the region of an impending disaster.

However even this system is constantly being updated to try and prevent a repeat catastrophe.

The warning and mitigation system consists of enhanced seismographic networks, networks of real-time sea-level gauges and deep-sea ocean pressure sensors, along with national tsunami warning centres linked to national disaster management systems.

It is essentially "a coordinated network of national systems", whose assets are "owned and operated by the Member States hosting or other ways taking responsibility for them".

But despite its best efforts, is the Asian-Pacific region fighting a losing battle against seismic activity, especially considering 70 percent of tsunamis occur there and a major earthquake is long overdue for the Japanese region.

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Can Haiti benefit tfrom the experience of the Asian tsunami? | Taiwan rocked by earthquake | Haiti: A logistical nightmare

Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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