Tsunami detectives

A year on from the disaster of Boxing Day 2004 and the first elements of an advanced tsunami detection system are in place in south-east Asia.

With scientists warning that the risk of another devastating quake is as high as ever, the new system, designed and developed by offshore monitoring expert Fugro Oceanor, could play an important role in lessening the impact of any future tsunamis in the area.

Frode Berge, a director with the Norwegian firm, said that the first of three deep-sea tsunami detection systems is now fully operational. The device, located in the Andaman Sea, around 500km from the coast of Malaysia’s Langkawi Island and 60km from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, will be followed later next month by two more systems in the Sulu Sea and the South China Sea.

Berge’s team has been working closely with Malaysian satellite specialist ATSB, the main contractor appointed by the Malaysian government to implement its National Tsunami Early Warning System programme.