Blindsided by a second deadly tsunami less than 19 months after the disastrous 2004 event, Indonesia is speeding up installation of a $20-million tsunami early-warning system off the coast of Java and along the archipelago. The Indonesian government intends to seek bids for the proposed early-warning system in the next several months, with a goal of completing installation by 2007.
The system will extend the newly completed Indonesian National Earthquake and Tsunami Early-Warning System, built by the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. UNESCO-IOC collaborated and partnered with a large number of other international humanitarian organizations to install 25 new seismographic stations in the Indian Ocean basin.