A Seismic Network for Earthquake Observation in Tonga was launched yesterday at the Tonga government's Geological Services Unit at Vaololoa, Nuku'alofa.

It marks the completion of a four-year project that was launched in 2007, under technical cooperation between the government of Tonga and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

JICA has provided all the hardware, software, the expertise, and over the four years has trained Tongans to operate the network. JIGA had spent about 32 million yens on the hardware and software only.

The network consists of a satellite-telemetry system of broadband seismometers, and central data receiving and processing facilities. The Tonga network has four remote Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) stations in Ha'apai, Vava'u, Niuatoputapu and Niuafo'ou; and a central hub station in Tongatapu. The unit comes under the authority of the Ministry of Land, Survey, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change.

JICA in 2007 set up a similar network of six remote stations in Fiji. The two countries networks are physically integrated into one to cover a wider area and share the data in real-time.

For Tonga, the advantage of having its own Seismic Network is that it can provide rapid earthquake information for the Tongan public.

The Japanese Ambassador to Tonga, HE Mr Yasuo Takase, on the behalf of the government of Japan, attributed the success of the project to the passion and the dedication of Tongans to work and learn from Japanese experts. "Your aspiration to use Japan's experience and expertise for the betterment of the life of the people in the Kingdom of Tonga are the foundation of the success of this project," he said.

"Japanese technical cooperation projects are catalysts to deepen people-to-people exchange between Japan and the Kingdom of Tonga."

The ambassador said that to build a better disaster management was also a step-by-step and never-ending learning process for any country. "Japan's experiences since last March shows the difficulties in disaster risk management, and the importance for a community to be resilient to minimize the impact of disasters affecting their daily lives." He believed that disaster management should be one of the center pillars of Japan's development assistance to the South West Pacific region.

Ring of Fire

The Minister of Land, Survey, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Lord Ma'afu on the behalf of the Tongan government, thanked the Japanese Ambassador for the valuable assistance to Tonga.

Lord Ma'afu said that since the network was up and running and providing seismic information, the next stage of the project was how to get this information to the Tongan public in real time. "The Tongan public should be aware that we live within the Ring of Fire," he said, referring to the fault zone that goes through Tonga Fiji and Vanuatu, in the South Pacific.