Tsunami-warning systems installed in Pangasinan, Albay –DOST

The Philippine Institute of  Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) have installed tsunami detection systems that provide real-time information and warning signals in high-risk coastal communities in Pangasinan and Albay, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) reported.

 

Dubbed the Community Tsunami Detection and Warning System, the locally-developed equipment are part of a grant-in-aid project of the DOST called “Establishment of a Cost-Effective Local Tsunami Early Warning System for Selected High-Risk Coastal Communities of the Philippines” or TeWS, a cost-efficient yet reliable system for tsunami forecasts and timely disaster response.

 

The technology basically consists of a platform with a 15-meter high pole, the DOST explained. Two types of sensors are attached to this pole: the ASTI-designed ultrasonic tide gage sensor, which notes the rise and fall of the sea level; and the PHIVOLCS-designed wet and dry sensors. The wet sensor detects post-earthquake receding water which may signal an impending tsunami, while the dry sensor determines if water has already hit the pole. The wet sensor is installed at one-, five-, and 10-meter heights above sea level. 

 

Information generated by the system reaches the local government unit (LGU) in near real-time, the department revealed. In cases when an earthquake is strong enough to cause a tsunami, the LGU can sound off the warning siren to warn those living in coastal areas and give them enough time to prepare and flee their homes, thus allowing the Philippines to climb several notches higher in the area of disaster preparedness and management.

 

The department said the PHIVOLCS and the ASTI installed the complete set of tsunami ultrasonic sensors off Bolinao, Pangasinan in the Lingayen Gulf last September. Later, tsunami warning sirens were installed in these pilot barangays: Barangay Poblacion in Bolinao, Poblacion in Lingayen, and Gueset, Pugaro, and Binloc in Dagupan City. 

 

In Albay Gulf, the tsunami detection system  and a warning siren was installed in the municipality of  Rapu Rapu and four other warning systems were put in place in the capital city of Legazpi. 

 

Two warning sirens are also being built in Subic: two in Olongapo, and one in the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the DOST said.  — Edgardo Tugade/TJD, GMA News