Feasibility study on mitigating tsunami hazards in the Pacific

technology have potential applications to the problem of providing early tsunami (tidal wave) warning information in developing nations of the Pacific which do not have their own regional warning network. A simple conceptual model is developed which shows how these technologies could be integrated into an early warning system, and a demonstration program which would confirm the practicality of such a technologically feasible system is described. Such a demonstration - to which the acronym THRUST (Tsunami Hazard Reduction Utilizing System Technology) is applied - would be a significant step toward achieving the goal of hazard mitigation in the developing areas of the Pacific community. It is recommended that an active program of tsunami hazard reduction in developing nations be established within A.I.D."s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. Appended are an annotated list of 19 international, U.S. Government, and other organizations involved in tsunami activities and an explanation of the possible role of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) in a tsunami early warning system. (Author abstract, modified)