Publication

On December 26, 2004, a powerful submarine earthquake struck near Sumatra, Indonesia, and an ensuing tsunami devastated communities around the northern rim of the Indian Ocean. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that an estimated 250,000 people lost their lives. After the dual disaster, some Members of Congress were soon on record as supporting an international effort to build a regional tsunami detection and warning network for the Indian Ocean where no such system existed prior to the disaster. Some lawmakers called for establishing an expanded tsunami detection and warning network to monitor the U.S. Atlantic coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. They noted that although the risks may be small, the consequences of a tsunami for the U.S. Atlantic Coast justified such expenditures.