Lanka to benefit from tsunami warning centre

Sri Lanka will be among the countries that will benefit from the $69.8 million Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre, operated by the Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne and Geoscience Australia in Canberra.

While Australia will be the main beneficiary of the new centre, upgraded and expanded seismic monitoring will also be extended to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Maldives, Mauritius and Kenya.

Meteorologists who met every few years to monitor tsunamis became the most sought-after experts on the planet after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

The Bureau of Meteorology disaster mitigation head Dr. Ray Canterford describes the event as "a quantum jump" for tsunami monitoring.

The Age, Australia