Tsunami
Society
BACKGROUND: Pioneering
tsunami research in the U.S. begun at the University of Hawaii
following the devastating 1946 tsunami. Scientists at the Hawaii
Institute of Geophysics, at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
(PTWC), and at the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC)
contributed significantly over the years towards the development
of tsunami research, to improvements of the Tsunami Warning System
in the Pacific, and to tsumami preparedness around the world.
Other prominent scientists from as far away as Alaska, other
U.S. States and countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, Oceania
and Central and South America, joined in this effort.
The Tsunami Society
was organized in 1982 by Dr. W. M. Adams, Dr. A. S. Furumoto
and Dr. G. Pararas-Carayannis in Honolulu, Hawaii, as an international
sprofessional ociety and as a focal organization promoting research
and supporting efforts to increase and disseminate knowledge
about tsunamis and their hazards.
Hawaii, to this day,
continues to be a signicant center for tsunami research and for
advances in tsunami warning technology. The Pacific Tsunami Warning
Center, the International Tsunami Information Center of UNESCO's
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the Hilo Tsunami
Museum are here. Numerous prominent scientists at the Univeristy
of Hawaii are actively working on tsunami research projects.
Finally, the Hawaii State Civil Defense has a very effective
program on tsunami preparedness and been designated as the best
organized in the U.S.
Mandate and
Mission of the Tsunami Society
The Tsunami Society
promotes the awareness and mitigation of tsunami hazards by sponsorship
of workshops, meetings and symposia, and by the dissemination
of knowledge about tsunamis to scientists, officials, the media
and the public through the publication of the journal known as
"Science of Tsunami Hazards", a home page, and other
venues. The Society provides a focus for discussion and interactions
among its members, government agencies and the public. The primary
objective is to mitigate the adverse impact of tsunamis on humanity.
Functions
The International Tsunami
Society encourages collaborative, multidisciplinary research
related to the tsunami hazards for the purpose of promoting education,
training, public awareness and implementation of early warning
systems that can save lives around the world and safeguard property.
More specifically - and particularly after the tragic (2004)
Tsunami Disaster in the Indian Ocean - the Society :
Promotes the concept
that tsunamis have a common adverse impact on Mankind that transcends
national boundaries and interests and, therefore, encourages
regional and international cooperation for research, education
and preparedness;
Promotes the setting up of facilities required for the undertaking
of research on tsunamis, based on a holistic multidisciplinary
approach that combines theoretical and applied sciences and mathematics,
as well as social sciences, to the understanding of the tsunami
phenomenon;
Promotes the mitigation
of the adverse impact of tsunamis on humanity through the implementation
and establishement of effective, early warning systems and through
programs of education and preparedness;
Co-operates with other
international scientific organizations, governments, foundations,
industries, academic institutions and other professional groups
concerned with the hazards of tsunamis;
Acts as a focal point
in assisting coordination between research institutions and universities
around the world promoting programs of theoretical and applied
tsunami research.
Supports the organization
of training programs, symposiums, workshops, seminars and other
meetings to study topics of interest related to tsunami studies
and preparedness;
Conducts an international
Tsunami Symposium every three years at the East-West Center on
the University of Hawaii campus;
Assists governmental
and private organizations with the establishment of appropriate
liaison mechanisms.
TSUNAMI SOCIETY
OFFICERS
Dr. George Pararas-Carayannis,
President
Dr. Tad Murty, Vice-President
Dr. Gerard Fryer, Secretary
Dr. Vindell Hsu, Treasurer.
SCIENCE
OF TSUNAMI HAZARDS
The
International Journal of the Tsunami Society
In support of the above
stated mission and functions and to increase and disseminate
knowledge about tsunamis and their hazards, for more than 25
years, the Tsunami Society has published a journal known as "SCIENCE
OF TSUNAMI HAZARDS".
In recent years many
tsunami research papers have been published in a variety of other
miscellaneous journals. However, none of these journals are dedicated
specifically to tsunamis. Searching for specific data and research
results about tsunamis is often difficult and time consumming.
Subscription costs are usually high. Papers published in such
journals have limited dissemination. The general public and scientists
from developing countries, with limited institutional sponsorship
and support, are often unable to subscribe or access these journals.
The Tsunami Society
makes all of its publications that are older than two years available
readily to the international scientific community and to the
general public free of charge. Journals published in the last
two years are provided free of charge to members of the Society
and are readily available to the general public at a nominal
cost.
Finally, to assure high
quality standards of publication, all papers submitted to the
Science of Tsunami Hazards Journal receive a thorough "peer-review"
by an Editorial Board and other senior scholars with specific
multidisciplinary expertise. The archived published papers in
the Society's journal include a wealth of data, research results
and references on tsunamis that does not exist anywhere else.