Signing of the Tsunami Warning Arrangement with Executive Secretary of Preparatory Commission for Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) Organization

August 11, 2008

  1. On August 11 (Mon), the signing of the Tsunami Warning Arrangement took place in Vienna between Mr. Yukiya Amano, Ambassador to the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, and Ambassador Tibor Toth, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) Organization.  This arrangement aims to make use of data obtained from the CTBT monitoring network for issuing tsunami warnings.
     
  2. This arrangement enables the Northwest Pacific Tsunami Advisory Center (NWPTAC), located at the Japan Meteorological Agency, to access seismic and hydroacoustic data obtained from the CTBT International Monitoring System.  This will make it possible to quickly detect earthquakes which occur abroad and to improve the degree of accuracy for hypocenter determination, which is required for tsunami forecast.
     
  3. As Japan regards the CTBT, which supports an international nuclear non-proliferation regime based on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as a realistic and concrete measure to create a world free of nuclear weapons, it attaches great importance to the early entry into force of the CTBT.  It is expected that the meaningfulness of the CTBT will be further recognized through this cooperation and that this arrangement will facilitate the early entry into force of the CTBT.
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