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Congress tackles tsunami preparation for territories
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Posted on Mar 23 2005
Tsunamis are a potential threat to the insular areas—including the Northern Marianas—since the territories are situated in an earthquake-prone perimeter, prompting the filing of proposed measures at the U.S. Congress for a tsunami hazard mitigation program.
At least two proposed bills have been introduced at the U.S. House of Representatives for the establishment of the program in insular areas.
One of them, H.R. 882, seeks to require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through the National Weather Service, to establish the program for the insular areas.
“Once a tsunami is generated, the technology exists to analyze seismic changes in the earth and changes in ocean water height to determine the direction any given tsunami is traveling and the populated areas in which it may cause destruction,” the proposed bill states.
“The key steps to reducing damage caused by tsunamis are to assess the hazard, educate the public to the hazard, monitor the earth’s seismic activity on a real-time basis, and alert local governments and the public in time for them to take appropriate action,” it says.
House Rep. Sherwood Boehlert of New Hartford introduced the bill, which was referred to the Science committee.
American Samoa Rep. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega also introduced a similar bill, H.R. 465, which was referred to the Resources committee.
“False tsunami alerts can result in significant costs to several communities, and reduce the seriousness with which future alerts will be taken, the measure states. “The failure to issue tsunami alerts can be even more costly and can result in avoidable death and personal injury, as well as destruction of property.”
Earlier, the Babauta administration underscored the need to install early warning devices and implement a volcano hazards assessment in the Northern Marianas.
