Three months after the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, events have settled into a predictable pattern.
Indian Ocean governments have vowed to establish a high-tech tsunami warning system, which was not in place when approximately 300,000 people died on December 26.
Scores of tsunami, meteorological and all sorts of other experts have met in Tokyo, Bangkok, Paris, Moscow and Jakarta and soon will convene in Italy, India and Mauritius for tsunami-related conferences.
The news media have written X number of words about those conferences and 1 million times X about the tsunami itself, with X being a number too high to contemplate.
Some of those words were about the lawsuit filed on March 4 on behalf of tsunami victims. The media will write even more words about that lawsuit regardless of whether it progresses or is tossed out. It represents conflict, and that surely is news.
Comparatively speaking, though, the media haven’t written much about the general focus of this web log – the advisability of integrating direct telephonic media contact into the tsunami warning protocols of NOAA agencies, particularly the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii.
Frankly, I’ve not done a particularly good job of pressing the issue with either the PTWC or the media. Yes, I had a few contacts with the Associated Press, which seems to me, at least, to be a major link in distributing time-sensitive tsunami warnings to communities thousands of miles away. I’ve had a couple telephone calls with someone at CNN International, but I’ve yet to talk with a decision-maker there.
And I’ve exchanged some phone calls and e-mails with Dr. Charles McCreery, the PTWC’s director, who has been attending several of the aforementioned international conferences. Dr. McCreery was in Indonesia last week but is expected back in Honolulu this week.
And that brings me back to the telephone number shown above. It’s for the AP’s Honolulu bureau. Dr. McCreery should dial that number soon and talk with bureau chief Dave Briscoe.
They both know the subject of that call: What is the fastest and most efficient way for PTWC scientists to issue a usable warning to the AP for eventual transmission to endangered regions of the world when a tsunami is suspected?
I.E., what phone number in which AP office should the PTWC’s scientists call to alert the world the next time a tsunami-generating 9.2 earthquake cracks the planet?
Mr. Briscoe and the Associated Press needn’t worry the AP will be helping “make the news” by taking that call and providing the requested information. The agency already tells the general public the number to call with news tips. The only difference is that this number wouldn’t be published in a directory available to the public. There’s precedent for the news media to give “insider” information such as unpublished telephone numbers to personnel who have messages they need to communicate urgently to the media.
This call should happen soon, because it apparently didn’t happen at any time before December 26. It needs to happen so attorneys like Edward Fagan don’t file lawsuits the next time a warning fails to arrive on distant beaches before a tsunami does.
The stage is set for this call. With Dr. McCreery back in town and Mr. Briscoe anticipating it, let’s hope it happens this week.
Doug Carlson
Honolulu, HI
March 20, 2005
1 comment:
If this wasn't caused by a bomb, people would have called CNN. A four year old would call. I'm thankful this blog refers to scientific measurements and not multiples of "Hiroshima - sized" atomic bombs - even though, who would have expected such a thing? Lex Luther? I suppose it will also up to Lex to design an app that would communicate with seismic equipmen? It was a bomb. It's been done before. It isn't a new thing. Without it, we cannot fathom how. With it, the whole thing makes sense.
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