Emergency broadcast system: A reverse 911 tsunami information dissemination system prototype

Abstract

When an earthquake hits, the dissemination of tsunami warnings can be crucial in saving lives. Unfortunately, some dissemination channels may be insufficient as they may be affected by the earthquake itself (damaged, loss of power or overloaded), may be expensive to build and are not available at certain places. In this research we propose a tsunami warning dissemination system that can serve as an additional channel to the existing systems. The system is lightweight, affordable, and can be powered autonomously. It disseminates messages to the commonly used GSM handsets and may reach numerous at-risk civilians. This paper also reports on the suggested integration plan of our proposed system within the current disaster management operation procedure in Indonesia. A set of experiments were carried out and they showed that the system has adequately met the users' requirements. It also shows the feasibility of the system to be integrated within the existing operational system and its associated early warning dissemination channels.