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A Tsunami Local Alarm System The tsunami early warning system covering the Pacific has saved thousands of lives in the past, and no one questions the value of establishing similar systems to protect people living along the coasts of other oceans. However, these systems have their limitations. As tsunamis are often generated by earthquakes close to a coast, the concept of ”early warning” is irrelevant to the nearest towns and villages. The wave will reach shore before the local people can be warned, especially in countries where communication systems are poorly developed. The city of Banda Aceh, for instance, was hit by the destructive tsunami of 2004 within 25 minutes after the earthquake occured. An early warning system in place in the Indian Ocean back then may well have saved tens of thousands of lives in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, but it would have made no big difference for the residents of Banda Aceh and the other cities along the west coast of Sumatra. There are many coasts with the same geological conditions, where continental plates are colliding and where tsunamis can strike shortly after an earthquake. Coastal communities in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Japan, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Italy, Greece and Turkey have all had their tsunami catastrophies in the past, and will sooner or later be struck again. Therefore, we have developed and filed a patent application for an idea about a local alarm system, as a complement to early warning systems. Now we are looking for companies or institutions interested in developing the invention into a commercial product. Read more in our presentation leaflet |