Optimum Locations Suitability: Analysis for Tsunami Warning Centres

Abstract

More than 35,000 lives were lost due to the Tsunami disaster, occurred in 2004. That time, early warning towers had not been established to warn people before this kind of a disaster. After the disaster, 77 early warning towers were established in the coastal area of the country. Geographic Information System (GIS) can be identified as a tool which has the capability of providing most recent and accurate information which is necessary for making most suitable decisions for a problem. As well as a mapping system which has been developed for storing, analysing, modifying and displaying spatial data of any place existing in the entire world. GIS has become a very useful tool which can be used in the vulnerability and hazard assessments. A research based on GIS Analysis has been done to find out the optimum locations to the Tsunami early warning towers located in between coastal line of Matara and Dickwella. It has been identified the most vulnerable areas for a future Tsunami disaster and has done an analysis to check the coverage of the existing Tsunami towers. Finally, a comparison between the optimum locations and the existing locations has been done and has identified the areas which have no protection from a future Tsunami disaster in the research area.