Saturday, March 12, 2011

UNOSAT works with Japan and UN agencies as tsunami spreads across the Pacific


Geneva 11 March 2011. A 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the north-east of Japan triggering a tsunami that has caused extensive damage and is spreading across the Pacific where some island are thought to be lower than the waves expected to hit them during the day of 11 March.
Currently a tsunami warning covers Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii, the Pacific coast of Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and also Central and South America.
UNOSAT is in contact with Japanese authorities, who have also requested international assistance to respond to the emergency unfolding in these hours, to cooperate to the coordinated mapping efforts under the International Space Charter. These efforts will initially concentrate in mapping the impact of the tsunami in the entire Pacific region also based on data coming through from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre. In addition UNOSAT is with various UN agencies and the International Federation of the Red Cross to contribute to generating objective information on the spread and impact of the event.

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