Competent agencies will be able warn of a tsunami two hours before it hits coastal provinces with the help of the tsunami warning system of 532 stations, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The tsunami warning stations are part of a plan approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop an effective tsunami warning system in 13 provinces in central and southern regions, from Ha Tinh to Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Among 532 stations, only 36 will be built and the remainder will be installed at mobile transceiver and television stations to save costs.

Under the ministry’s Decision 2195/QD-BNNPTNT, Thua Thien-Hue Province will have 85 tsunami warning stations and Quang Nam Province, the locality with quakes reported most frequently, will have 21 stations.

The project has an investment of over VND293 billion with the State budget making up 95% of the total and the remainder from other sources.

The Institute of Geophysics under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology is responsible for monitoring earthquakes and tsunamis in Vietnam.

The institute will give early warnings to the Central Steering Committee on Disaster Prevention, the National Committee for Search and Rescue, the national weather center, departments and divisions for search and rescue in provinces and the media so that they will provide information to residents.  

Apart from tsunami, the system will give warnings of other natural disasters for people living near estuaries and the sea.  

According to the Institute of Geophysics, an earthquake happened in Tuong Duong District of Nghe An Province on June 12 and two other quakes were reported in the central province of Quang Nam last month.