In This Issue
Systems Challenges on a Global Scale
June 1, 2005 Volume 35 Issue 2
Articles In This Issue
  • Wednesday, June 1, 2005
    AuthorPhilip L.-F. Liu

    Computational models of tsunamis can be used to design and operate early warning systems.

    The Earthquake
    At 00:58:53UTC on December 26, 2004, a strong earthquake struck southwest of Banda Aceh in northern Sumatra (3.30?N, 95.78?E). The earthquake, which occurred near the junction of the Indian, ...

  • Wednesday, June 1, 2005
    AuthorGeorge Bugliarello

    Editor’s Note

    Systems Challenges on a Global Scale

    Human history has been punctuated by major natural disasters, from the Thera eruption of around 1600 B.C., which generated a tsunami some 100 meters high and devastated northern Crete, and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. that ...

  • Wednesday, June 1, 2005
    AuthorCostas Synolakis, Emile Okal, and Eddie Bernard

    It is too soon to know if Indian Ocean populations are better prepared today than they were last December.

    From 1992 to 2002, tsunamis in the wake of large, but not gigantic, earthquakes, caused significant damage to coastal areas about once a year. These tsunamis resulted in more than 3,000 ...

  • Wednesday, June 1, 2005
    AuthorGeorge Bugliarello

    Historically, many engineering advances have precipitated major changes in interactions between nations and have influenced the conduct and direction of foreign policy. The opening of the Suez and Panama canals had significant geopolitical impacts. The Berlin-to-Baghdad railroad influenced the ...

  • Wednesday, June 1, 2005
    AuthorConrad C. Lautenbacher Jr.

    NOAA has been using technology to detect and warn of tsunamis for more than three decades.

    When our planet flexes its natural muscles, it often creates hazards for the humans who live on its surface. The tsunami that struck Southeast Asia and parts of Africa in December was a shocking reminder ...

  • Wednesday, June 1, 2005
    AuthorRobert A. Dalrymple and David L. Kriebel

    The design of civil engineering structures in tsunami-prone areas can be critical.

    Living near the sea means living with the risk of a tsunami. In some areas, such as the Pacific Rim countries, the risk is high: the possibility of a significant tsunami occurs on a decadal scale in Japan. In ...