Japan Beefs up Philippines’ Quake, Tsunami Monitoring System

(PNA/Kyodo) — Japan on Thursday formally handed over components of a comprehensive earthquake and tsunami monitoring system to the Philippine seismology agency as part of its grant assistance to the Southeast Asian nation for disaster risk management.

The symbolic handover of a seismic intensity meter device, one of the system’s four major components, was held on the second anniversary of the last major earthquake in the Philippines.

Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said Japan’s grant includes 10 broadband strong motion seismometers, 36 strong motion seismometers, 19 sea-level monitoring stations, and 240 intensity meters, all to be installed across the country by 2016. “These are to beef up our existing equipment and initial activities,” he said. (PNA/Kyodo) FPV/RSM