Swissinfo / Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG
Dienstag, 18. Januar 2005
Swiss expert spearheads quake surveillance
The head of the Swiss Seismological Service says early-warning
systems are needed to prevent disasters like the Asian tsunami from
happening again.
As the World Conference on Disaster Reduction gets underway in
Japan, Domenico Giardini talks to swissinfo about the challenges
facing the international community following the catastrophe.
Millions of people were caught off-guard on December 26, when an
undersea quake off the coast of Sumatra sent killer waves crashing
into coastlines across southeast Asia.
Here in Switzerland, the national seismological service relies on a
network of monitoring stations to localise and measure the magnitude
of earthquakes deep beneath the country’s surface.
The organisation also forms part of a wider, worldwide network of
observation centres, including the European-Mediterranean
Seismological Centre and the Federation of Digital Broadband
Seismograph Networks (FDSN).
Giardini, who heads both the Swiss service and the FDSN, says local
and international alert systems play an integral role in saving
lives.
swissinfo: How does the international community of seismologists work
together to monitor the earth’s activity?
Domenico Giardini: Before the earthquake on December 26, we had two
meetings on our agenda – this week’s World Conference on Disaster
Reduction in Kobe, Japan, and the 3rd Earth Observation Summit, which
is due to take place next month in Brussels.
Originally, the meeting in Kobe aimed to come up with a ten-year
action plan to improve the gathering and distribution of information
about our planet. But after the quake off the coast of Sumatra, the
focus of the meeting’s agenda shifted to include a special session on
the tsunami. Countries will also be discussing the creation of
early-warning systems in the Indian Ocean, as well as the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
swissinfo: How would such a system work?
D.G.: We would have to create a network of seismic sensors and
install ways to measure underwater landslides, which can also cause
major tidal waves. We would also employ instruments that can measure
the energy of such waves. That said, a global-warning system is not
enough… local-alert systems also need to be established to keep
at-risk populations informed about seismic activity.
swissinfo: What is Switzerland’s role in the seismological field?
D.G.: In cooperation with the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (SDC), we work a lot with developing countries, such as
Armenia, Georgia, Chile and Colombia, to maintain
earthquake-surveillance systems. We’re also in the process of
establishing a national monitoring network in Tajikistan, as well as
a surveillance system at Egypt’s Aswan Dam.
We’re also studying the possibility of providing similar support to
other developing nations and we’re looking into ways of improving the
protection of the Swiss abroad. For example, an automatic-alert
network using the Short Messaging System (SMS) might be an option.
swissinfo: What gaps need to be filled here in Switzerland?
D.G.: The alarm systems and protection measures against natural
disasters are very advanced in this country. But we lack ways of
preventing tidal waves on our big lakes from causing serious damage…
and that danger exists. For example, the 1601 earthquake in Lucerne
caused waves that were two to three metres high.
Tidal waves can also be caused by landslides, and cities like Geneva
and Zurich, which lie at the end of large lakes, could experience
major damage should a landslide occur.
swissinfo-interview: Frédéric Burnand
From: Baghdasarian