Chile Tsunami

Interesting article published on 3rd March by the BBC news website, which reviews the failure of the Chilean oceanographic service to issue a tsunami warning following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake on 27th February near Concepcion: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8548152.stm

'We were unclear with the information we gave because we were not precise enough to tell the president if the alert was to be maintained or cancelled'
Admiral Edmundo Gonzalez, Chilean navy

This quote highlights the importance in making quick and accountable decisions during a time of crisis and highlights the importance of the decisions made by the responsible science agency (oceanographic service) on the ability for second order decision makers (the Chilean government natural disaster agency) to act when there are substantial levels of uncertainty.

I was not the only one who recognized this failure and on March 6th, the BBC news website reported that the head of the Chilean oceanographic service had been sacked:

'The service, part of the Chilean navy, has been widely criticized for failing to issue a nationwide tsunami warning immediately after the quake'
BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8552989.stm

I am still somewhat confused as to why they did not issue a tsunami warning, and even more disappointed that the locals did not have the knowledge to move away to high ground following such a large earthquake, especially in a country where tsunamis are relatively common.

A lot more research needs to be done on decision making processes if EWS are to be more effective.