by Jim Peron

Institute for Liberal Values

01/02/04

Seismologists said they knew within minutes that a tsunami was a real threat. In spite of that, people died hours later even though only a few minutes warning was all that was needed to save their lives. The consensus in the media was that the seismologists didn't know who to contact in many of these countries. No official warning system existed. That appears true. And many people see this as a failure of government. They argue that millions must be spent to create a new system to handle this type of rare situation. Certainly we can see the deadly results when people are not warned of a deadly disaster speeding down upon them. But more went on here than is first apparent. Why was an 'official' channel of warning necessary?

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Informant: Thomas L. Knapp