By IPS Correspondents
MEXICO CITY, Jan 6 2005 (IPS)

Almost none of the Latin American countries with coastlines are prepared to confront a tsunami, although experts warn that the region could possibly face a disaster similar to the one that struck Asia in late December.

The tsunami caused by a massive undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26 claimed over 150,000 lives and caused overwhelming destruction to countries in South and Southeast Asia, as well as Africa.

Carlos Pullinger, director of the Geological Service of El Salvador, told IPS, “The threat of a tsunami is viewed as relatively minor in Latin America, when in fact, it is not. Hopefully, what happened in Asia will put pressure on the region’s governments to create warning systems and educate the population.”

The danger is posed by the tectonic plates off the Pacific coast of Latin America, from Mexico to Chile, and others in the Caribbean. If these were to shift and generate a quake measuring more than 8.0 on the Richter scale, the region could be lashed by killer waves with the same destructive force as those that hit Asia.

Reports gathered by IPS from throughout Latin America indicate that the Asian tsunami claimed the lives of at least two Argentines, two Brazilians, two Chileans and two Mexicans. There are also 138 people from various countries of the region who are missing and being sought in the disaster zone.

To support the rescue efforts in Asia and to help in the search for their citizens, a number of Latin American governments – most of whom believe it is unlikely that their own countries could be hit by a similar catastrophe – have sent different kinds of aid.

In addition, the Brazilian and Chilean foreign ministries, along with those of most of the other countries of the region, offered special consular services to assist those affected by the disaster.

Mexico has contributed 18 rescue workers and experts in disease control, civil engineering and risk analysis, while Venezuela has pledged two million dollars in aid for the victims, to be disbursed through the United Nations.

“We can only hope that Latin America will never suffer anything similar to December’s tsunami, but the governments of the region should be fully aware that the possibility always exists, and we have to be prepared,” warned Pullinger.

With the exception of Chile and Nicaragua, the Latin American countries most affected by tsunamis in the 20th century, none of the nations in this region are prepared for an emergency of this kind, or equipped with advanced systems to detect underwater tremors and quakes. Instead, they depend almost exclusively on the Pacific Tsunami Warning System, based in Hawaii.

The warning system, run by specialists from the United States, comprises dozens of censors and seismographs throughout the Pacific Ocean. If a quake sufficient to trigger a tsunami is detected, warnings are sent to the countries that could potentially be affected.

Historical evidence indicates that the risk of a tsunami is relatively minor in comparison with the frequency of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and hurricanes, but it is a potential threat that cannot be ignored, given the location of the tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean, said Pullinger.

Roughly 116,000 people have been killed in Latin America and the Caribbean over the last 30 years as a result of tectonic and geological movements, according to studies by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). While most of these deaths were caused by earthquakes, they also include the 116 lives claimed by a 1992 tsunami in Nicaragua, which left many thousands homeless.

In 1990, the countries of Central America proposed the creation of a regional tsunami warning network, but their plans have yet to come to fruition, “because of a lack of resources,” noted Pullinger. It was only this last July, he added, that El Salvador installed a tidal monitoring station connected to the Pacific Tsunami Warning System.

After the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami, the initiative to establish a Central American warning network appears to have been revived, Pullinger said.

Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, officials from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) announced that they are also looking into the possibility of establishing a tsunami warning network.

Eduardo Camacho, director of the Panamanian National Civil Protection System’s Geoscience Institute, said that if an earthquake severe enough to set off tsunami waves were to happen today, “there is very little we could do to prevent a disaster of enormous proportions.”

In the case of an underwater earthquake, the governments of the region could be informed – although somewhat belatedly – by the Pacific Tsunami Warning System, but they would be unable to implement any kind of evacuation plan, because these simply do not exist, Camacho told IPS.

Almost all of the region’s countries with Pacific coastlines have equipment to detect seabed movement, and the majority are connected to the Pacific Tsunami Warning System. However, only Nicaragua and Chile have the high-precision censors needed to effectively trigger the pertinent alarms.

For Pullinger, the installation and coordination of underwater seismic measuring equipment is an urgent necessity, particularly in Central America. Nevertheless, he added, it would not be the most difficult need to fulfil.

“From a technical point of view, we can make progress fairly rapidly, but what is still greatly lacking, and hasn’t even been addressed in some cases, is a programme for educating the public about tsunamis and implementing warning and evacuation systems, especially in coastal communities,” he said.

*Additional reporting by Marcela Valente (Argentina), Mario Osava (Brazil), Patricia Grogg (Cuba), Gustavo González (Chile) and Humberto Márquez (Venezuela).

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