Mass drill tests tsunami warning systems
In 2004, 200,000 people were killed in a tsunami
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By Lewis Bazley. |  |
Wednesday, 14, Oct 2009 12:11
A mass drill has taken place in countries around the Indian Ocean to test an early tsunami warning system.
The importance of the eighteen country drill was brought to the fore two weeks ago when a tsunami in the Pacific Ocean killed nearly 200 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.
But a UN-backed drill has aimed to prepare local people for a giant wave, with the Exercise Indian Ocean Wave 2009 testing systems in Asia, Australasia, Africa and the Middle East. Officials have said the drill was a success, but the UN will issue a final assessment in a few days.
However, reporters in the area say some people were too traumatised by the effects of a tsunami in 2004, which killed 200,000 people, to take part in the drill.
"My chest has gone tight and I am shaking," Hamiyah, 58, who lost her in-laws, four children and five grandchildren, told AP news agency.
Since the 2004 tsunami, early warning systems have been put in place at a cost of £94 million.