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Why is there no tsunami warning system for the Atlantic Ocean?

Asked by mattbrowne (31732points) September 22nd, 2009

From Wikipedia: The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, took place on 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 a.m. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami and fires, which caused near-total destruction of Lisbon in Portugal, and adjoining areas. Geologists today estimate the Lisbon earthquake approached magnitude 9 on the Richter scale, with an epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 km (120 mi) west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent. Estimates place the death toll in Lisbon alone between 10,000 and 100,000 people, making it one of the most destructive earthquakes in history.

Approximately forty minutes after the earthquake, an enormous tsunami engulfed the harbor and downtown. Tsunamis as tall as 20 meters (66 feet) swept the coast of North Africa, and struck Martinique and Barbados across the Atlantic. A three-meter (ten-foot) tsunami hit Cornwall on the southern English coast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), operated by NOAA in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, USA, is one of two tsunami warning centers in the United States. PTWC is part of an international tsunami warning system (TWS) program and serves as the operational center for TWS of the Pacific issuing bulletins and warnings to participating members and other nations in the Pacific Ocean area of responsibility. In the aftermath of the 1960 Chilean earthquake and tsunami which devastated Chile, killed dozens in Hawai`i and perhaps as many as 200 people in Japan, the nations of the Pacific decided to coordinate efforts to prevent such loss of life from ever occurring again in the Pacific Basin due to destructive ocean-crossing tsunamis. Under the auspices of the United Nations, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) established the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning System (ICG/PTWS) in 1968.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System is a tsunami warning system set up to provide warning to inhabitants of nations bordering the Indian Ocean of approaching tsunamis. It was agreed to in a United Nations conference held in January 2005 in Kobe, Japan as an initial step towards an International Early Warning Programme. Its creation was prompted by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and resulting tsunami, which left some 230,000 people dead or missing. Many analysts claimed that the disaster would have been mitigated if there had been an effective warning system in place, citing the well-established Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which operates in the Pacific Ocean.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean_Warning_System

So here’s my question: Are we stupid enough to wait for another Lisbon-type tsunami before budgets are made available to build a tsunami warning system for the Atlantic? Are massive scale disasters the only way so things get changed? Why not be proactive for a change? We know the risks. Had a Pacific-type system been installed before 2004 for the Indian Ocean maybe only 10% of the 230,000 people would have died. Do you agree?

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