India to take lead in tsunami early warning system
AFP, Perth
India was Wednesday selected to take the lead in implementing a tsunami early warning system for Indian Ocean countries after the devastating December waves that killed more than 200,000 people. The international warning system, expected to be in place by July 2006, brings together 27 nations and aims to give them enough time to alert their citizens to avoid a catastrophe. "We already have a system that is providing warnings. There are already 25 national centres that have been established in the last three months," said Patricio Bernal, head of the UN's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. "That is a very important accomplishment. These centres are receiving information now from outside the region, from (the Pacific Ocean warning centres in) Honolulu and Tokyo.
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