GIS and Emergency Management in Indian Ocean Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster
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GIS and Emergency Management in Indian Ocean Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster ® An ESRI White Paper • May 2006 ESRI 380 New York St., Redlands, CA 92373-8100, USA • TEL 909-793-2853 • FAX 909-793-5953 • E-MAIL [email protected] • WEB www.esri.com Copyright © 2006 ESRI All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. The information contained in this document is the exclusive property of ESRI. This work is protected under United States copyright law and other international copyright treaties and conventions. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as expressly permitted in writing by ESRI. All requests should be sent to Attention: Contracts and Legal Services Manager, ESRI, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-8100, USA. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. 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J-9543 GIS and Emergency Management in Indian Ocean Earthquake/ Tsunami Disaster An ESRI White Paper Contents Page Executive Summary.............................................................................. 1 Introduction........................................................................................... 3 Objectives ............................................................................................. 4 Tsunami Hazard.................................................................................... 5 What Is Tsunami Hazard?............................................................... 5 What Is the Mechanism behind an Earthquake That Triggers a Tsunami? ..................................................................... 7 Which Areas Are at Risk?............................................................... 8 Managing Disasters............................................................................... 10 What Can Be Done?........................................................................ 10 Technology Used in Emergency Management..................................... 11 Technology Used in Rescue and Recovery .................................... 11 Is There Sufficient Financial Aid to Deploy Technology?............. 13 Organizations and Their Technology Implementations.................. 14 Barriers and Issues in Technology Deployment ............................. 20 Possible Technology Implementations for the Region ................... 22 Lessons Learned.................................................................................... 25 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 28 Appendixes Appendix A........................................................................................... 29 Appendix B ........................................................................................... 31 Appendix C ........................................................................................... 33 ESRI White Paper i GIS and Emergency Management in Indian Ocean Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster J-9543 Contents Page Appendix D........................................................................................... 34 Appendix E ........................................................................................... 35 List of Figures Figure 1—Indian Ocean and the Epicenter of the Earthquake on December 26, 2004..................................................... 3 Figure 2—Wave Height Rising as It Approaches the Shore ................ 6 Figure 3—Three Types of Plate Boundaries—Transform, Convergent, and Divergent ................................................................. 7 Figure 4—Global Topography and Plate Tectonics ............................. 8 Figure 5—Disaster Management Cycle: Predisaster, During, and Postdisaster Phases ......................................................... 10 Figure 6—MapAction and Its Technology Usage Diagram................. 23 Figure 7—The Commandmap Project Enables Advanced Technology to Be Used in Emergency Management ......................... 24 Figure A-1—The Relief Activity Map for the Indian Ocean Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster ............................................................. 30 Figure B-1—Tsunami Intensity Map for the Indian Ocean and Surrounding Areas (Years 416–2004) ......................................... 32 Figure C-1—Poster Designed for Information at a Glance .................. 33 Figure D-1—The Screen Shot of the Map Project That Shows the Plate Boundaries, Epicenter, and Significant Earthquakes......................................................................................... 34 List of Tables Table 1—Casualty Statistics................................................................. 3 Table 2—Tsunami Disaster Effects on the Earth's Surface, Infrastructure, and Agriculture............................................................ 6 Table 3—The Deadliest Tsunamis 1400 BC–2004 AD ....................... 9 Table 4—Summary of Technology Usage in Disaster Area ................ 12 Table 5—Aid Types and Amounts ....................................................... 13 Table 6—Active International and Local NGOs in the Disaster Region................................................................................................. 15 May 2006 ii J-9543 GIS and Emergency Management in Indian Ocean Earthquake/ Tsunami Disaster Executive Summary This white paper addresses the utility of geographic information system (GIS) technology in support of the Indian Ocean tsunami relief efforts. ESRI, the world leader in GIS technology, continues to respond and support efforts of humanitarian aid and assistance associated with this event. Through the course of response and recovery, ESRI served as a facilitator of information. First, it provided contact through its worldwide network of distributors in support of a multitude of GIS users who responded in rescue and rehabilitation missions. In addition, ESRI expanded its Web server, providing technical information, data, and pertinent map products. Geospatial information remains a key element in disaster management. Investments in planning and preparedness affect the ability of agencies and aid organizations to respond, especially when time is critical. The enormity and the reach of the tsunami event illustrate the challenges of data acquisition, integration, and sharing across jurisdictions and varying data systems. Interoperability remains a vital issue that was amplified by social and political differences. In spite of best efforts, the full potential of GIS was not realized in this event, and ESRI will continue to develop solutions for quick deployment and adaptation under emergency conditions. This paper describes the event, responses, and attempts to underscore the challenges of data sharing in a dynamic environment. In this case, lessons learned can make a difference when lives literally hang in the balance. The Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami disaster once more reinforced the global vulnerability to hazards. This complex, dynamic, and multidisciplinary event allowed the assessment of the technological approaches for disasters. Within these approaches, GIS is one of the high-end technologies that can help save lives and property. To better address its role, ESRI wanted to know how GIS is being used for humanitarian efforts in response to this disaster. Hence, this paper attempts to identify how GIS technology supported rescue and recovery efforts as well as continues to support rehabilitation efforts. Since this disaster affected many countries and the world's economy, it can be deduced that the problems encountered were diverse. One main problem was that the technology level differed dramatically from country to country. Some countries made relatively good use of GIS, but some could not. Other problems were lack of data, data sharing, communication, and standardization. These problems also created duplication of data. Moreover, accessing data and up-to-date information was difficult and slow. Political obstacles in the government structure and lack of collaboration between agencies worsened the situation. The hardware used was mainly computers, laptops, mobile phones, global positioning system (GPS) units, and tabular forms. The GIS software used was ESRI® ArcGIS® 9 ESRI White Paper