Press Releases

U.S. Government Provides Tsunami Warning Support to Mauritius Meteorological Service
April 28 – May 2, 2008

May 2, 2008

Two American scientists are visiting the Mauritius Meteorological Service (MMS) to provide technical assistance in establishing their national tsunami warning centre.  The scientists, Paul Whitmore, Director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service West Coast / Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC), and Laura Kong, Director of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Institution International Tsunami Information Centre (IOC ITIC), will work with MMS staff to set up the WC/ATWC-developed Earlybird software, and then provide training on using the software for real-time earthquake monitoring and tsunami warning center operations.  Once configured, the Earlybird will use the global seismographic network to locate and size Indian Ocean earthquakes within minutes of their occurrence.

This visit is the third mission conducted led by the ITIC to assist the government of Mauritius in building its national tsunami warning and mitigation system in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.  The project is funded by the U.S. Government.

Previously, teams from the ITIC, IOC Tsunami Unit in Paris, and the U.S. Geological Survey visited Mauritius in October 2007, and January 2008.  A team of experts in tsunami emergency management will visit May 19-23, 2008, to work with the National Police on tsunami evacuations and other emergency responses to tsunami.