Hidden behind sea walls

tsunami-hit Kerala is witnessing a hot debate on the effectiveness of sea walls. The state government has requested the Union government to provide it Rs 757 crore for reconstruction and rehabilitation work. A sizeable portion of this will be spent on sea wall construction off the coast at Kollam and Alappuzha, the worst affected.

Disasters

Year: 2001 Total natural disasters: 701 Percentage occurrence in Asia: 40 Total fatalities: 25,000 Percentage deaths in Asia: 85 Total economic loss: US $36 billion Economic loss in Asia: US $14 billion

Quick worker

a computer system tested in Taiwan can give people as much as 25 seconds warning of an impending earthquake. This may not seem very long, but it is enough time for automated emergency systems to stop trains, shut down gas lines or tell surgeons to stop their work. "This could be the perfect 911 emergency call for earthquakes across the world," says Ta-Liang Teng of the us-based Southern California Earthquake Centre at the University of Southern California, who has developed the system.