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The Hong Kong Observatory has published the Chinese edition of the booklet "Tsunami - The Great Waves" which is available for free.
A great tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean in December, 2004. Some people who knew about tsunamis made use of that knowledge to save their own lives and the lives of those nearby. It is demonstrated that people's awareness can mitigate the damage caused by tsunamis.
The International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC) under the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO has published an English booklet "Tsunami - The Great Waves" to raise public awareness about tsunamis. The National Marine Environment Forecasting Centre (NMEFC) of the State Oceanic Administration of China and the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) co-operated to translate the booklet into Chinese and published the booklet in simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese respectively.
Director of ITIC Dr Laura Kong, said the IOC welcomed the valuable contributions of NMEFC and HKO to enhance tsunami preparedness along China's coasts. "The translation of 'Tsunami - The Great Waves' into Chinese will further enhance people's knowledge about tsunamis so that they know how to respond when tsunami warnings are issued," Dr Kong said.
Deputy Director of NMEFC Professor Yu Fu-jiang said the Chinese booklet jointly translated by NMEFC and HKO described in simple terms the generation, characteristics and propagation of tsunamis, early warning systems and precautions to take during a tsunami. "We hope that the booklet can help popularise knowledge about tsunamis, promote public awareness about the risk of tsunamis, and enhance the community's capability to mitigate the damage caused by tsunamis."
Senior Scientific Officer of the Observatory Dr Wong Wing-tak, said that although the chance of Hong Kong being affected by a destructive tsunami was very small, it was prudent for everyone to know more about tsunamis. "Many Hong Kong people like to travel abroad. It is important that they have this knowledge when travelling to places with higher risks of tsunami attack."
People can obtain copies of the Chinese edition of the booklet "Tsunami - The Great Waves" from the Hong Kong Observatory Resource Centre which is located at Units 2304-2409, 23/F Miramar Tower, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. An electronic version of the booklet can be downloaded from the Observatory website:
http://www.weather.gov.hk/publica/gen_pub/great_waves_tc_2006.pdf
The English version of the booklet can be downloaded at the ITIC website:
http://ioc3.unesco.org/itic/categories.php?category_no=137
Ends/Thursday, June 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:01
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