From: "Major Variola (ret)" <mv@cdc.gov> Sent: Jan 3, 2005 4:45 PM To: "cypherpunks@al-qaeda.net" <cypherpunks@al-qaeda.net> Subject: Re: How to Build a Global Internet Tsunami Warning System in a Month

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3. Homebrew warning systems will face the same problems as eg pro volcano warning systems: too many false alarms and no one cares.

The best defense would seem to be a population with a lot of TVs and radios. At least after the first tsunami hit, the news would quickly spread, and there were several hours between when the waves arrived at different shores. (And a 9.0 earthquake on the seafloor, or even a 7.0 earthquake on the seafloor, is a rare enough event that it's not crazy to at least issue a "stay off the beach" kind of warning.) My first take on this is that it's an example of the many ways that it's better to be in a rich country than a poor one. Major natural disasters are a lot bloodier in poor countries, for lots of infrastructure reasons (good communications to get out the warning, good roads to evacuate on, resources available for disaster planning long before the disaster hits, building codes or best practices that require some resistance to known disasters, etc.). --John