A thorough assessment is carried out on any potential threat of a tsunami before advisories are rolled out by the Mineral Resources Department.

Following recent earthquakes, there have been widespread concerns about whether the tsunami early warning systems are working.

Acting Director Raymond Mohammed says people need to understand the work carried out by the Mineral Resources Department.

“We ask the public to work with us and bear with us in terms of the work that is being done by the Seismology Monitoring Unit. So we have a 24/7 observatory at the department so they monitor seismic events and potential tsunami generation.”

Mohammed adds tsunami sirens are activated based on the threat to the country.

“We also take into account the tides, and also the projected wave heights propagated by the tsunami event or the seismic event that had propagated the tsunami. So there is a status in terms of heights and for us, for example, the projected wave height is low and it coincides with the low tide then there is no need for any activation of tsunami siren or any threat”.

The Department works closely with the National Disaster Management Office and the network of tidal gauges in the region to collect information on any possibility of a tsunami generation following an earthquake.