ABSTRACT
On December 26, 2004, another example of poor disaster management was recognised after a massive 9.0 earthquake in the Indian Ocean. A horrifying tsunami destroyed coastline areas of 11 countries and caused an unbelievable number of deaths (over 150,000). People from around the world began to realise the power of Nature and how devastating hazards and loss can occur by underestimating her power. Some news reporters from the National Public Radio (NPR) in the U.S. commented that if these countries around the Indian Ocean had had a tsunami early warning system (such as the Pacific Tsunami Warning System used by the U.S. and Japan) hundreds of thousands of people would have been saved from the tsunami. However, the authors of this chapter disagree with this statement because a single tsunami warning system is not sufficient for the establishment of comprehensive disaster management. This chapter argues that what is really needed is an integrated mobile and distributed GIService, combined with the early warning systems, to support disaster management, response, prevention and recovery.
