The extraordinary loss of life from Sunday's earthquake and tidal waves is prompting Asian governments to consider developing a more comprehensive and effective warning system.
Scientists nearest the quake's epicenter knew shockwaves could create tidal surges that would threaten coastal regions and shipping, but said Monday they had no way of measuring the size of the danger because a warning network like one used in the Pacific is not installed in the Indian Ocean.
The technology might have saved countless lives Sunday by giving residents in coastal areas — especially in Sri Lanka and India, the hardest-hit nations hundreds of miles from the quake — time to flee to higher ground.
Officials in Thailand issued the only warnings of the impending disaster, but broadcasts beamed to tourist resorts in the country's south underestimated the threat and a Web site caution was not posted until three hours after the first waves hit.
Meanwhile, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland, who is also the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, said he was not aware the region didn't have a warning system.
He said the World Conference on Disaster Reduction next month in Kobe, Japan, will now consider whether such a system can be designed and whether it is even possible to evacuate such large coastlines with only a few hours' notice.
On Tuesday, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his country would push for a regional system.
"I know it looks like a bit like closing the door after the horse has bolted," Downer told reporters. But he said he hoped a warning system could lower death tolls in the future.
The confirmed death toll from the massive earthquake and tidal waves that devastated much of Asia's coastline passed 25,000, with officials warning the figure was likely to rise steeply.
