Integrating an Alert Technology into PIC Social Context: An Earthquake-Induced Tsunami Alert for Pacific Island Communities

Pacific Islands are susceptible to unforeseen natural disasters as they are located in the Pacific basin. There are several types of natural disasters including earthquake and tsunami. Historical data has showed that, nearly 60% of tsunamis had taken place in the Pacific Ocean. It is important to alert or warn Pacific Island Communities, especially along the coastal areas, imminent danger of earthquake and tsunami in real time. In this paper, we propose a real time alert system, focusing on tsunamis that are caused by earthquakes. With advanced mobile technologies and devices, our alert system not only can provide underserved populations access to real time information, but also has the potential to increase social awareness for sharing information in the communities by using local content to serve local needs. In addition, the alert system has the potential to improve social behavior of our Pacific Island Communities of being more alert and well-educated in dealing with imminent dangers of earthquakes and tsunamis.