Publication

This report discusses proposals to establish an international tsunami early warning system. The author reviews the challenges to such a system and considers US and international proposals to improve the tsunami warning systems in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere. The author concludes that making a decision about whether and how to proceed with such an endeavor will be complicated because of the involvement of multiple international actors and the ambiguity concerning the funding of such a project. Nevertheless, the international community welcomes US inclinations to improve the tsunami early warning system and anticipates the development of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).