India to get tsunami warning system

India’s tsunami early-warning system in the Indian Ocean is scheduled to become operational by the end of the month.

An interim warning centre is already in operation at the Indian National Centre for Ocean information Services in the southern city of Hyderabad, India’s Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said in a statement in India’s Parliament.

A magnitude 9-earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on December 26, 2004, and tsunami it triggered killed more than 178,000 people in 11 countries and left nearly 50,000 more missing, with most presumed dead. They included 10,700 killed in India.

“The government is setting up a National Early-Warning System for tsunami and storm surges in Indian Ocean and the system is scheduled to be operational by the end of September,” the Indian minister today.