When countries are better prepared for disasters, they reduce the risk of impact to property and life. Not only does this save lives, it means vital funds are spent on where they are needed most – on health, education and other essential services – instead of disaster recovery.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Geoscience Australia are working together to help manage the risk of disasters affecting our neighbours and improve their resilience.
Geoscience Australia is currently working with Papua New Guinea to install Raspberry Shakes – small, cost-effective, and easy to install seismographs – around PNG to help the country improve their seismic detection network.
This innovative technology has the potential to densify their earthquake detection network, meaning PNG can better detect earthquakes, including their precise magnitude and the location of the epicentre. This vital information provides more certainty of which earthquakes have the potential to cause a tsunami, so they can issue a tsunami warning when needed.
DFAT and Geoscience Australia are also providing training and technical expertise to strengthen disaster reduction and disaster management in the Pacific Island region. This collaborative project with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Work Bank is engaging with national and local disaster management officers who plan, prepare and respond to natural disasters.
The project will develop and provide training on a tool to assist disaster managers in Pacific countries to reduce logistical issues faced when rapidly responding to disasters across geographically dispersed island countries.
Called “PacSAFE”, the tool combines data from technical specialists, local governments and communities to provide insights into the likely impact of future disaster events, the requirements for response, and action checklists for emergency managers.
Should an event occur, PacSAFE will allow disaster manager to be better prepared to respond and conduct consistent damage and needs assessments.
Original source: DFAT
Published on 12 October 2018
