|
|
|
|
|
BACKGROUND
Preamble
The 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the Indian Ocean tsunami have highlighted vulnerabilities to extreme natural hazardous events in the world coastal communities. Much of the damage occurred because neither a tsunami early warning system nor a simple communication network was put in place among the countries in the region. Public education, total risk management and coastal zone planning to mitigate tsunami hazard were also non-existent in the region. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, many countries have been working independently and collectively to develop early tsunami warning systems for the Indian Ocean region countries. USA has committed more than $50 millions over the next several years to deploy 29 new deep ocean sensor systems in the Pacific Ocean rim and Caribbean Sea.
South China Sea Tsunami Hazards
Recently the USGS issued a report confirming potential risk of tsunami sources along the entire Pacific subduction zones. It identified the Manila (Luzon) trench as a high risk zone, where the Eurasian plate is actively subducting eastward underneath the Luzon volcanic arc on the Philippine Sea plate. Two other medium risk subduction zones in the neighboring area are also identified. These subduction zones can rupture and generate large tsunamis in the future that will have devastating impacts on the countries in the South China Sea region.
Past workshop on Earthquake and Tsunami
During the NUS-TMSI workshop on “Earthquake and Tsunami: From Source to Hazard” conducted in Singapore in 2007, participants of the workshop supported the idea of conducting an annual series of SCSTW workshops to stimulate and report research on regional tsunami hazard mitigation plan, total risk management and an early warning system in the South China Sea region.
South China Sea Tsunami Workshop 1 (2007) and 2 (2008)
Following the above initiative, the first South China Sea Tsunami Workshop 1 (SCSTW1) was held in the Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan on 5-7 December 2007. The sponsors include the Academia Sinica, Cornell University and many other research universities and institutions. The second South China Sea Tsunami Workshop 2 (SCSTW2) was held in the Academic Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China between 1 and 3 December 2008. The sponsors include the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Cornell University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University among others.
|
|
