Warning System

A jam in communication networks and the arrival time of the first wave activity during a tsunami, which is faster than the issuance of warnings, are issues Lands and Mineral Resources permanent secretary Malakai Finau says they need to work on.

Mr Finau said official warnings after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred south of Fiji took a while as his office needed some time to conduct analysis and verification before it could issue an official alert.

Mr Finau said people needed to understand that the earthquake was a local event and the arrival of the first wave activity could take five to 10 minutes, faster than the issuance of warnings.

"For local events, there is very little time, in the event that there is a tsunami to arrive," he said.

Mr Finau said the communication channels for issuance of official warnings also get delayed because of the jam in communication networks.

He said while the ministry had the basic monitoring systems in place, there were still room for improvement.

Mr Finau said from detection to informing the public, there were rooms for improvements.

"Also for us, agencies directly involved to find ways in which we can improve communications with each other and most importantly to the public. more

Source: www.fijitimes.com