Contributing to global knowledge

Rohan Samarajiva, who heads regional think tank LirneAsia, stresses that knowledge about tsunamis and how to react to them has to be incorporated into everyday practice by the government, private sector and all citizens. -- The Island

AFTER the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, which claimed more than 35,000 lives in Sri Lanka and displaced 515,000 people, several areas of research into early warning systems emerged. One early, promising field fizzled out but other endeavours met with greater success.

Much hope was placed on addressable satellite radio initially, mainly for its potential to remotely activate radios and transmit alerts and warnings, even if the instruments were not switched on.