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Another earthquake within the Asia-Pacific basin spawned tsunami warnings this past weekend. Hundreds of thousands of people headed to higher land to avoid disaster, the result of constant monitoring of the earth's seismological activity. Have geospatial tools helped to mitigate these impacts?

As an earthquake registering 8.8 magnitude occurred in Chile, the shocks were almost instantly picked up by the Pacific Disaster Centre located at Hawaii. That agency immediately began a series of notifications around the Asia-Pacific basin, ensuring that countries and communities were aware of the activity and potentially catastrphic impacts.

The Indonesian Government has been working on a tsunami early warning system. India has also been monitoring it's own shores for simmilar dangers, using satellite based technologies. Both Australia and Indonesia have invested in a disaster facility located in Jakarta recently.

In 1999 the fifteen CGIAR International Research Centers formed an alliance to work together through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) for sustainable agricultural development resulting in the Consortium for Spatial Information (CGIAR-CSI). When the Aceh earthquake in 2004 occurred, numerous resources resulted from this membership.

If we look closely at the development of tsunami warning systems we find that geospatial technologies are present not only in the after event stages, but play important roles prior to these events. Topography, land use, marine resources and other infrastructure are all planned and built using geospatial technologies. Where they are established in the planning process is critical to understanding the potential dangers that may occur.

Education is a pivotal role when it comes to tsunami and other disasters. ABC Australia recently reported on the need for greater education to help people learn about what they need to do once warned of these events - a fact that at first seems strange, yet, it could be potentially life saving for those who simply are unaware still.

The combination of education and better planning will necessarily include geospatial tools of kinds. From maps to location to satellite imagery, aerial photogrammetry and other technologies, these tools can be seen to play a key role to mitigate disasters

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ASM Newsletter is distributed by e-mail every week. It reports on events in the spatial industry in Asia and events outside the region which will impact on Asia.