Tsunami early-warning device studied

BREMERHAVEN, Germany, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A sea floor pressure recording system to detect tsunamis shortly after they develop had been designed by a German marine institute.

The project, which would extend alert times and reduce false alarms, is directed by group of scientists at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, part of the Helmholtz Association in Bremerhaven, Germany.

The system was tested successfully near the Canary Islands earlier this month, signaling a milestone in the development of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System, the institute said in a news release.

The German tsunami warning system processes a large amount of information for comprehensive and accurate evaluation, officials said. To differentiate between a sea quake and a tsunami, "we must measure sea level directly," said project leader Olaf Boebel of the Alfred Wegener Institute.

To address this challenge, a modem in the German recording system basically sends a fax to another modem connected to a buoy near the water's surface, which sends the information to the warning center, researchers said.