I was disheartened when I read the following on Yahoo! News this morning.

“Regional bulletins that the 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake was strong enough to create a killer wave did not reach the victims, because Indonesia’s main island has no tsunami warning system…Indonesia has installed a warning system across much of Sumatra island but not on Java. It has been planning to extend it there by 2007.”

Quote Source: Death toll in Indonesia tsunami at 86 – Yahoo! News
Map Source: Maps courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission.

What’s the point of having a regional bulletin if the information is never going to reach the people who most need to hear it? Is it not possible to arrange to spend any of the collected donations from the previous tsunami in the area (December 2004) to speed up the implementation of such a system?

I’ll admit, I’m the first one to not know much about these systems. I know the province of BC has one, but the meat and bones of it are well above my head.

I’m full of questions today.

As for all those who’ve sent me IM’s and emails asking if I was affected by the tsunami, thanks for your concern. I’d like to reassure you that I was no where in the region where it occured.

Technorati Tags: tsunami, indonesia, no warning system

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