• DOI:10.1038/434018B
• Corpus ID: 205033213

Biologists do not pose a threat to deep-sea vents

@article{Tyler2005BiologistsDN,
  title={Biologists do not pose a threat to deep-sea vents},
  author={Paul A. Tyler and Christopher R. German and Verena Tunnicliffe},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2005},
  volume={434},
  pages={18-18}
}

• P. Tyler, C. German, V. Tunnicliffe
• Published 3 March 2005
• Geology
• Nature

nor the existence of India’s sophisticated seismic networks led to warnings being issued on 26 December, once the tsunami had struck the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The tsunami did not hit the Indian mainland for another two hours. Allegedly, communications links had survived in Port Blair on the Andaman Islands, not to mention nearby airforce and navy bases that were affected. Some have argued that up to 40,000 people might have been saved if they had been warned. Further, India issued an incorrect warning a few days after the tsunami hit, triggering massive panic in India and Sri Lanka. At the same meeting, India announced that it could develop new systems and models “based on end-to-end principles” in two years, using the best brains in India. For reference, the United States and Japan took more than 20 years to develop validated numerical models to predict tsunami evolution. And it took the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 30 years to fully develop its bottom-pressure recorders, which have been reliably detecting tsunamis for the past ten years. India has an opportunity to establish a regional warning centre for the Indian ocean, thus ending its self-imposed isolation in sharing seismic data. It has the communications infrastructure and the scientific talent to serve its citizens and the international community. But the idea that India can do it alone is misguided. Costas Synolakis Department of Civil Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-2531, USA