Predicting the Sea's Anger

摘要

Strengthened by its experience in the Pacific, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission is encouraging the installation of an early warning system in the Indian Ocean. On July 23, 2005, Tokyo (Japan) was hit by the most powerful earthquake to occur since 1992. This time, as it does every time there is a tremor, the computer of the Japanese Tsunami Warning Centre automatically informed the Japanese media. Meanwhile, seismologists were determining whether the earthquake detected could cause a tsunami, trying first to locate its epicentre and measure its intensity from information sent around the clock by the 200 seismic stations that monitor the country. If an earthquake is likely to provoke a tsunami, an evacuation order is sent out. This time it wasn't necessary. The alert was canceled.