If you've read previous posts to this web log, you know that its focus is the failure of U.S. scientists to issue an effective warning to Indian Ocean populations in the first two hours after the Sumatra earthquake. The log's premise is that scientists could have used the major news media -- e.g., the Associated Press, Reuters, CNN -- to alert the region in time to perhaps save many many lives.
A January 2 post contains a link to a NOAA timeline showing that within 70 minutes of the quake scientists suspected a tsunami had been generated, but instead of notifying the media, they spent all their time unsuccessully trying to reach colleagues and government agencies in south Asia.
As noted in yesterday's post, scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii were "trying to telephone government officials they did not know and did not know how to reach." No article yet found has mentioned that anyone contacted the news media to issue a tsunami warning -- no article save one.
Perhaps the most compelling report yet found about actions immediately after the quake was written by Andrew C. Revkin of The New York Times; it was published here and on numerous other sites. Although this 5200-word article reports on interviews with scientists and government officials from Seattle, WA to Africa, the only mention of anyone attempting to contact the news media to spread the alarm comes from Mombassa, Kenya:
"The emergency plan was intended for things like oil spills or fires, not tsunamis. But it was all they had. The police were informed to evacuate the beaches. The news media were called to spread the word. The local authorities were mobilized up and down the coast. Radio messages were sent to commercial fishing vessels and ships. For the wooden dhows that are so common in Kenya and that lack radio communication, the looming danger was spread by word of mouth."
"The news media were called to spread the word." Unfortunately, well over 100,000 people had died by the time that apparently sole media call was made.
This web log will continue to search for evidence that U.S. scientists and officials used the media to warn of a possible tsunami. Knowing what's in their crisis communication plan would shed some light. The goal, of course, is to ensure that agency personnel include mass media notification in their emergency plans as the most effective way to communicate with mass populations.
Doug Carlson
Honolulu, HI
January 4, 2005
1 comment:
Normally I wouldn't bother with crap like this.
But if you read anything about the tsunami or the actions of NOAA people, you would know, that in the second bulletin they issued they did put in language concerning a tsnumai near the epicenter. At the time, the magnitude was only an 8.5
THe Peru Earthquake was an 8.4 and the tsunami there didn't kill anyone outside of Peru.
Its pretty clear from the NOAA website, that the tsunami guys didn't know anything about Phuket until 3-4 hours later. No tide gauges in the eastern Indian ocean.
Is that the US govt's fault?
How do you suppose a tsunami system can warn people about a tsunami near the earthquake, when the tsunami system is on the other side of the world?
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