THE Department of Meteorology and Hydrology under the Ministry of Transport plans to seek more than US$1 million in funding to establish tsunami warning system in Myanmar.

The department has drafted a proposal for the system, which would be fully operational within three years of obtaining the required $1,068,000, said the department’s director general, Dr San Hla Thaw.

He was speaking at a seminar on the tsunami and a proposal for a national tsunami warning centre in Myanmar at MICT Park on June 18. The event was organised by the Myanmar Engineering Society’s multi-discipline technical affairs committee.

Dr San Hla Thaw said the proposal included upgrading and expanding the current communications network and the development of human resources.
“Department-owned radio stations will be established in coastal areas which are likely to be affected by tsunamis,” he said.

Radio broadcasts were the most effective way to issue warnings and the stations would operate around the clock, Dr San Hla Thaw said.

The department currently issues weather warnings to the public on government radio, which operates from 7am to 9pm daily.

Dr San Hla Thaw said operating the stations would also allow the department to send warnings only to areas that were under threat.

“By targeting only threatened areas, residents in other parts of the country would not be alarmed by warnings that did not concern them,” he said.

The department will also upgrade its monitoring network for seismic activity and sea levels by installing more sophisticated equipment.

There are four seismographic stations in Myanmar and eight newer, digital seismographs are proposed.

The existing stations are at Sittwe in Rakhine State, Dawei in Tanintharyi Division, Yangon and Mandalay.

Dr San Hla Thaw said increasing the number of seismographic stations would not only assist the accuracy of disaster warnings but also other activities conducted by non-government organisations such as the Myanmar Engineering Society, which is drafting earthquake maps.

Three digital tidal gauges are also proposed along the coast to increase the effectiveness of the two operating at Pathein in Ayeyarwaddy Division and Yangon.

Later last week, Dr San Hla Thaw left for Paris to attend the annual meeting of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, where he said the department would submit its proposal for the country’s warning system to try and attract potential overseas donors.

Dr San Hla Thaw told Myanmar Times he would discuss seismic conditions in Myanmar and the equipment needed for the warning system and its communications network at the Paris meeting.

Following the devastating December 26 tsunami, countries in the Indian Ocean region decided at a meeting to Paris to establish a regional warning system.