US IOTWS Program Summary

The US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) Program was funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented from August 1, 2005, to March 31, 2008. The $16.6 million US program involved several partner agencies with specialized expertise and technical resources for the region. In addition to USAID, these agencies included the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Geological Survey (USGS), US Department of Agriculture/Forest Service (USDA/FS), and US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). USAID’s Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA) in Bangkok managed the program with the coordination support of a contractor that served as the Program Integrator (PI), a consortium of technical organizations led by the IRG-Tetra Tech Joint Venture and including the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and the University of Rhode Island.

The objective of the US IOTWS Program was to provide strategic support to the international effort led by the IOC to develop an operational IOTWS that provides integrated end-to-end capabilities at the regional, national, and local levels within a multi-hazard framework. Following completion of the Program, US Government agencies and Program partners will continue to provide technical guidance and capacity building through to help ensure the long-term sustainability of Program tools, products, and initiatives. Further information on the Program activities, outcomes, and plans for sustainability are below and at the links to the left.

End-to-end refers to a system that incorporates several individual components that operate in a sequence to produce a fully functioning system. These components include the initial detection of an earthquake and potential tsunamis, data analysis, formulation and dissemination of the warning, and finally, response by the community to the warning.

The Tsunami of December 26, 2004

On the morning of December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.3 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island caused a massive tsunami that spread outward and struck coastlines across the Indian Ocean. Almost 300,000 people in eight countries perished over the next 12 hours, and 1.5 million more lost their homes or livelihoods. While it may not have been possible to have prevented all loss of life from the December 2004 tsunami, the death toll would have been drastically reduced if an early warning system had been in place to alert communities to evacuate the coastal areas and move inland. To mitigate the damage and loss of life from future disasters, world leaders called for a coordinated effort by the international community and the Indian Ocean countries to develop an end-to-end early warning system for the entire Indian Ocean region.

International Community Responds

In addition to the extensive disaster relief and reconstruction that followed the tsunami, the international community took a series of steps to initiate a coordinated effort to develop an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS). Working through a series of meetings convened by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the governments of the region agreed to develop an IOTWS within an interconnected network to be coordinated through an Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) under the auspices of the IOC.

United States Contribution to the Development of the IOTWS

The US responded immediately in the aftermath of the tsunami with extensive relief to the region. In the days following the December 26, 2004, tsunami, in cooperation with other donors and private organizations, US support helped ensure that critical needs for food, shelter, and water and sanitation were met. The US government’s participation in the reconstruction efforts included rebuilding roads and other infrastructure, training to help develop new skills and livelihoods, strengthening community governance and political infrastructure, and supporting the development of an end-to-end IOTWS and strengthening disaster preparedness skills throughout the region.

In 2005, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the US IOTWS Program as the US Government’s direct contribution to the international IOTWS effort led by the IOC. Through this two-year, $16.6 million effort, US scientists and experts shared technical expertise, provided guidance, and helped build multi-hazard warning system capacity within the Indian Ocean region so that governments and communities will be able to detect and prepare for tsunamis and other coastal hazards.

The Challenge of Developing an IOTWS

International efforts to develop a functional end-to-end early warning system for the Indian Ocean region faced several immediate challenges. Tsunamis are the most difficult of all natural hazards to prepare for, detect, analyze, and warn against, and the process of building a robust, reliable warning system was expected to take many years and require decades of sustained investment and effort.

• Technical challenges. While the technical capability for developing an end-to-end system existed in December 2004, many of the technologies and systems were unknown to the region and many countries in the region lacked the expertise required to operate and maintain much of the sophisticated instrumentation used in a multi-hazard warning system.

• Institutional challenges. In many cases the institutional mechanisms needed to develop and maintain such a system did not exist. Prior to December 2004 many of the Indian Ocean countries lacked national policies and frameworks to deal with large-scale disasters. Many new agencies were established within the national governments in the Indian Ocean region following the December 2004 tsunami to address disaster management issues, but these agencies often had shifting mandates and authorities that resulted in overlapping or unclear responsibilities.

• Coordination challenges. Finally, a significant challenge in the development of the IOTWS was the sheer number of international partners and levels of support providing support to the region.

Program Objectives and Approach

The US IOTWS Program focused its efforts on the countries most affected by the tsunami, which include Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Maldives, as well as implementing limited activities in India. The objective of the US IOTWS Program was to provide strategic support to the international effort led by the IOC to develop an operational IOTWS that provides integrated end-to-end capabilities at the regional, national, and local levels within a multi-hazard framework.

Working in partnership with the international community, host country governments, and private sector and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners, US Government (USG) activities supported each of the essential elements of an IOTWS, which include: (1) Detection and Forecasting; (2) Warning Dissemination; and (3) Preparedness, Mitigation, and Resilience.

To be most effective, the program approach involved coordinated efforts that simultaneously enhanced each of these areas at regional, national, and sub-national/community levels. The aim of the program was to be comprehensive in coverage—through strategic collaboration with the international community, other donors, the private sector, and NGOs—without necessarily seeking to address every need everywhere.

US IOTWS Program Contributions and Outputs

Working through the IOC and the ICG/IOTWS, the US IOTWS Program provided substantial input into shaping the overall design of the IOTWS and contributed to the development of common standards and protocols. Contributions at the regional level primarily focused on the installation and upgrades of various detection systems to enable better forecasting of potential tsunamis. At the national level, activities were largely focused on capacity building and technical assistance, and included targeted assistance in technology transfer, deployment, and training. At the local level, the US IOTWS Program focused many of its activities to help communities better prepare for and be able to respond to a variety of natural hazards.

Specific contributions from the US IOTWS Program that have led to improvements in capacity throughout the region include the following:

• establishment of 31 protocols and policies enabling interoperability of the regional IOTWS system;
• installation, deployment, or upgrade of 18 national tsunami detection and communication system components;
• the inclusion of 399 communities in national alert systems;
• training for 195 national and sub-national government agencies;
• community-level disaster preparedness training for 20,290 individuals;
• initiation of coastal community resilience activities in 83 locations in the region;
• official tsunami notifications to the region from NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) for 2 tsunami and 17 non-tsunami events;
• optimal design of the tsunameter array for the Indian Ocean presented to and adopted by ICG/IOTWS members;
• successful deployment of 2 Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (“DART”) stations, and agreements with the Governments of Thailand and Indonesia for their long-term maintenance and operation;
• upgrade/installation of 6 coastal sea-level observation stations and 5 seismic stations;
• capacity building on earthquake detection, hazard mapping, and warning processes;
• a new, low cost approach to tsunami inundation modeling with training and support for scientists to develop inundation maps;
• Global Telecommunications System (GTS) upgrades and trainings in Sri Lanka and the Maldives in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO);
• establishment of Concept of Operations (CONOPS) policy, frameworks, and reference guide for adoption in the region;
• capacity building and technical support for national warning center operations, emergency communications, and/or rapid alert systems in 4 countries, including training;
• last-mile radio and internet (“RANET”) technology communication alert systems installed in Indonesia for notifying local authorities of tsunami bulletins, with additional support provided to Sri Lanka;
• incident command system (ICS) capacity building in Sri Lanka and Indonesia;
• support for comprehensive disaster and tsunami warning policy and institutional frameworks in 4 countries;
• coastal community resilience (CCR) tools and frameworks developed and disseminated, including community-level disaster preparedness training for nearly 20,000 people in 5 countries;
• establishment of the International Tsunami Training Institute (ITTI) with formal training for tsunami warning professionals now provided in the Asia region through a sustainable platform with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT);
• sustainability of Program training modules through the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), which has already secured funding for new training activities in tsunami rapid alert systems, CONOPS, ICS, and CCR covering a broader area in the Indian Ocean region;
• sustainability of Program products, such as CONOPS and CCR, through their incorporation into ICG/IOTWS work plans.

Sustainability

The most successful management systems will be built upon a multi-sectoral approach in which all organizations—government, private, and community—are involved and understand their individual roles and responsibilities in tsunami warning, and have allocated the recurrent budgets needed to sustain operations over time. Because the US IOTWS Program was designed to be catalytic and provide targeted support over a two-year period, the USG team structured its activities at the outset to help ensure sustainability in the long-term by building capacity within the region and establishing partnerships. Ongoing needs will continue to be addressed by long-term domestic programs, as well as through other donor efforts, such as Germany’s €45 million five-year German-Indonesia Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) program with Indonesia, UNESCAP’s US$12.5 million Tsunami Regional Trust Fund established in 2005, and the United Kingdom’s UK£7.5 million tsunami funds reserved for early warning capacity building. In addition, the USG will continue to remain actively involved in the development of the IOTWS after the conclusion of most program activities through participation from their respective agencies.

To help ensure long-term sustainability, the team worked with partners in the region to help transition Program tools, products, and initiatives into sustainable, long-term platforms that will continue independently into the future.

Is the Indian Ocean Region Better Prepared Today than in December 2004?

Indian Ocean countries are significantly better prepared to issue early warnings in the event of another destructive tsunami than they were two years ago. If a major tsunami were to occur, many communities would now receive timely warnings and know how to react, and lives would be saved. Critical detection and communications systems—including seismic stations, sea-level gauges, and the first fully operational tsunami detection buoys—are in place and providing hazard data in real time.

The national governments have made significant advances to national warning system networks, communications, and government operations and procedures and are now able to rapidly disseminate warnings to local populations. Numerous multilateral, bilateral, and non-governmental organizations, including the US IOTWS Program, have widely supported disaster preparedness for coastal communities across the region, primarily in the countries most affected by the 2004 tsunami.

September 12, 2007 Tsunami

On September 12, 2007, a tsunami struck Padang, Indonesia, as a result of an 8.4 magnitude earthquake near Sumatra Island. The response to this tsunami demonstrated that the USG’s five partner countries have made significant advances with their tsunami warning systems since the tsunami disaster of 2004. According to a recent assessment of national efforts conducted by the IOC Secretariat, the installation of or upgrades to seismic and sea-level monitoring stations have greatly enhanced hazard detection, disaster management institutions and coordination systems are stronger, warnings are more effectively disseminated, and communities are better prepared to respond. In addition to receiving information from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), in many cases the countries formulated their own warnings based on receipt of available seismic and oceanographic data. Indonesia, for example, was able to issue a national warning to local authorities within 10 minutes of the earthquake, comparable to the speed of issuing tsunami warnings in the US or Japan.

Building on this progress, the ICG/IOTWS expects that one or more Regional Tsunami Watch Providers (playing a similar function to PTWC) may become operational by 2009, potentially meaning that the region will no longer rely solely on official tsunami notifications from PTWC.